Titan of Defense
by You will not find me
Summary: The Titanius clan were one of the most powerful clans in the extra-devil territories, commanding respect equaled only by the 72 pillars. Romulus Titanius is the last member of his family after the massacre that destroyed everything he knew. Now he is out for revenge, but to do so first he must gain power. Follow his quest to avenge his family and crush those who stand against him.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok... Here we go... I am back. I know I took all of my stories down some time ago and have not posted anything in a long while. And for that I truly apologize. I could give all of you loyal readers any number of excuses as to why I stopped but the simple fact was that I gave up when the going got tuff. But I have returned, and like a saiyan I plan to come back better than ever. Now without further ado. I present my OC insert Highschool DxD story.**

 **Just to warn you. I am not a fan at all of the Highschool DxD show, which I have watched. I find it stupid, riddled with plot-holes and so predictable that I didn't even need to watch more than one episode to predict the outcome of the whole first series.**

 **So why? you might ask, am I writing a story on its page. Well as much as I dislike the way the series was made. The Idea appealed to me greatly. The entire concept of Devils, Angels and Fallen Angels is an unsteady non-aggression pact with different threats appealed to me and my imagination. The backstory and world that was built around the shitty main characters is why I am writing this. I think it could have made a great anime if it had been made the way something like code geass was made.**

 **Just to warn you. I will be heavily bashing the main characters, especially Issei. Holy shit do I hate this guy. I won't be cruel and kill him for no reason but in no way will this story in any way allow for any kind of socially acceptable harem for him at all. Also, just because I will be bashing the main characters doesn't mean I will be unfair. I will be trying to portray everyone in the series realistically and what happens between the characters in DXD does not ever happen in real life. Issei's perversness will not help him out at all in this story, in fact most of the characters will be revolted by his perversions.**

 **I mean, how would any normal person react to someone like Issei. There's definitely a reason why the only women he gets with are a sexual deviant devil, a very strange sadist like Akeno, and Asia and Xenovia, who have no experience with the outside world or everyday society and therefore have no frame of reference that shows them that a man constantly ogling their breasts and peeping on women through a hole in the wall is not the type of guy you want to have any kind of familiarity with.**

 **Other than that I have really to tell you so here is the Disclaimer.**

 **The following is a fan based creation. I do not own Highschool DxD or any of the plot devices or characters that appear in either the light novels, manga or anime and am solely the owner of any OCs and OC abilities.**

* * *

The entire world burned around him, in the distance he could hear screams cutting through the sound of the flames consuming his home. In countless rooms throughout the compound the wails of children and the roars of warring adults were cut short as enemies unseen slaughtered any they could find.

Romulus Titanius was terrified and confused, mere minutes ago he had been asleep, his last memories being that of his mother's warm embrace lulling him as she sang him a soft lullaby. It seemed to him that only moments had passed before suddenly he was pulled from his bed and thrust into some incomprehensible hellscape, his hand being held by his mother as she dragged him through the blazing inferno that was the Extra demon clan Titanius' main family estate.

Romulus watched the timbers around him catch fire and the sounds of battle permeate the air. His mother, Helen Titanius, pulled him along behind her as she ran, pulling both of them through several large sets of doors into the family library. Immediately after the two rushed through each set closed with a loud thud. Helen Titanius instantly and frantically searched the area, looking for anything that might help her save herself and her child. Her eyes rested on where her husband and the head of the family; Galahad Titanius was packing countless books, scroll, manuscripts and other written accounts into a bag, one that was ridiculously small given how much he was trying to place inside of it.

"Damn it all." He muttered, it seemed that trying to pick and choose what knowledge was most important was too much hassle. With a wave of his hand the entire library's store flew from their shelves, the flames that were already burning some of the tomes closest to the roof snuffed out as they swirled in a miniature hurricane into the bag. With another wave a massive hexagonal barrier appeared on each of the shelfs, taking the forms of books and scrolls, leaving no evidence that the library had ever been emptied.

"Mommy, what's going on?" Asked the young child, his voice cracking with terror, his mind overwhelmed by the incomprehensible events of the night.

"Romulus, there isn't any time to explain." She gently replied, trying to soothe the boy before pulling him over to his father.

"Galahad, we have to leave. The library doesn't matter." She called out to him, shaking his shoulder to attempt to get his attention.

"Yes it does." He replied. "This is our legacy, Romulus will need all the knowledge and power he can get in the coming years."

"He has us." Helen said back, now pulling on his arm. "He doesn't need the books, we can teach him ourselves."

"You think whoever this is is going to stop without our deaths?" He asked her. "Whoever planned this is hoping to destroy our clan, and that can't happen without them killing us."

"What about Romulus?" She yelled back at him as the battle sounds began to wind down and footsteps could be heard thudding throughout the mansion.

"There are plenty of other children in the compound. Romulus' death can be easily faked and he can escape, but I will not allow my son to lose everything. If I cannot give him a proper childhood, or a good life, I will give him the tools to build one for himself."

Banging could be heard from the entrance to the library as enemy forces smashed against the door, trying to break it down to get to the people within.

Galahad turned one of the large bookcases, running his hand over the bottom of one of the shelves he pressed down and waited. A moment later a click was heard from somewhere inside the wall and the bookcase swung open, revealing a secret entrance that led down into darkness. Grabbing his wife and son by their hands he pulled them down the corridor, pausing for a moment to hurl several balls of fire at the bookshelves around the room, setting the aflame and dispelling the illusions of books.

"Why did I even bother?" Romulus heard his father mutter as the trio descended down the stairs.

Pulled through the dark tunnel by his parents Romulus had no time to wonder about the why their family library had a secret exit before a series of torches lit themselves and they emerged from the newly lit tunnel. In the center of a large room at the bottom of the stairs sat a large ornate statue. It had three pairs of arms each performing a different task. In one set of the statue's hands there was an ancient looking scroll. The second set had it's hands above the statue's head, holding a shield with beautiful and ornate designs all over it and a mystical feel about it. Finally, clasped in the last set of hands just above the sitting statue's lap was a small ornate chess set. On one side were twelve pieces all of them radiating power exactly like his mother, with a bishop, two pawns and the king missing from it. On the other side stood fifteen pieces, these ones exuding and aura matching his fathers demonic power. That set was only missing the king.

Suddenly, 3 streaks of light shot past the three nobles, placing themselves on the board. Now there stood two sets of fifteen pieces on each side.

Romulus' mother moved forward, reaching her hand close to her chest, which began to glow before one more more chess pieces emerged, glowing a deep red, signifying his mother's energy mother. The matriarch of the Titanius clan placed the final piece on the board, completing one of the sets with sixteen glowing pieces on one side, the full thirty one pieces radiating demonic energy.

"Take them son." Said Romulus' father, pushing his child towards the statue.

The young boy approached cautiously before recoiling and letting out a frightened cry as a crash was heard from back the way they came.

"Shit." His father swore, ignoring his wife's glare at his language. "They must've broken through the first set of doors, we have to stop them."

Galahad grabbed Helen's hand and dragged her back to the entrance to the chamber before climbing the stairs.

"Grab the scroll Romulus." He yelled over his shoulder. "Then take the chess set and channel your demonic energy into both sets of pieces. Once you're done grab the shield and take the staircase behind the statue. Run strait along the path, do not turn no matter what, that should lead you into Tannin's territory, tell him to take you to Mephisto and he'll handle it from there."

Tearing her hand free from her husband's grip for a moment as he continued up the stairwell to buy his child time Helen ran back and knelt in front of her son. Looking down at his tear-stained face and terrified expression she wrapped her arms around her frightened child and kissed his forehead.

"I love you Romulus." She whispered to him, holding him close. "Both your father and I love more than anything else. Before you go, there are some things you need to know; Make some friends, not too many, don't be some delinquent party boy but make some friends who will stick by you through thick and thin, eat properly and don't overdue the junk food, brush your teeth at least twice a day and don't forget to floss. And please, find a nice girl, or a boy if you prefer, to settle down with, someone who loves you truly and dearly-"

The roof shook, dislodging some dust and chunks of the ceiling.

"I have to go now Romulus, but please, find happiness in life, you don't have to be ambitious or have power, just find something that makes you happy and hold onto it because happiness is the hardest thing to find in life and those who do find it are few and far between."

With a heavy heart Helen Titanius released her son and turned her back on him, running to join her husband and fight those who threatened her family.

As she left Romulus looked on after her until she was out of sight. turning he looked back at the statue. He rushed forward and grabbed the scroll, shoving it into the backpack that his father had left leaning against the side of the wall. Slinging the bag over his shoulder he turned to the chess set. he scooped all thirty one pieces into his arms and poured his power into them like his father had been teaching him to for the last six months since his sixth birthday. The pieces slowly turned a dark purple color from their original white before they levitated out of his arms while the king piece phased into his chest. The rest of the pieces flew into the chess box, forming neat little rows of pieces as the box placed itself into the arms of the young boy who then shoved the whole box into the bag just like he had with the scroll..

The ceiling shuddered again as Romulus' head whipped around to the entrance of the chamber, letting out a whimper of fright. There was a flash of light that filled the chamber and a his father's voice filled the silence.

"Romulus!"

Romulus looked back, hope flaring in his young mind; was his dad ok? Was his mom? Did they win against the bad people who came? Why had his father called his name? All those questions forced Romulus to put off his escape.

Ignoring his flight reflex which was screaming as him to run but unwilling to leave without his parents despite their orders he raced back, climbing the stairs soundlessly but with haste until he reached the halfway point. The young devil stopped as he stepped in a puddle of something. Looking down he saw a red liquid flowing down the stairs.

Once he reached the top he saw that the bookshelf that had concealed the entrance to the secret passageway was being eaten by flames. It was not damaged enough to reveal the passage but there were enough holes where the fires had burned away the wood for him to clearly see into the he saw the body of his mother, her arms wrapped around a badly burned and mangled form that Romulus barely recognised as his cousin Remus.

His mother's eyes were wide open and unblinking while she stared at him. Despite her obviously grievous wounds she managed to mouth words to her horrified son.

' _Run'_

Romulus didn't acknowledge her silent pleas however, choosing instead to move closer, hearing the voice of his father and another that he did not recognize.

"You won't get away with this Sirzechs, the extra demons won't stay quiet after this. Not when they see how you've murdered my family, my clan." Galahad turned to look at his now dead wife and his cousin's charred body

"My son... They'll rise up, just as you fear, all you've done is make my family martyrs."

Romulus' eyes widened upon hearing the name, as a clan heir he was expected to know the names of all those who held influence in the supernatural world in order to know friend from foe, and very few names were known to any devil as well as Sirzechs Lucifer's.

"They won't rise, you'll not become any kind of martyr Galahad, because I was never here. This attack never happened. Your clan was killed by a group of insiders who did not want the conflict that creating a separate government would bring."

Sirzechs kneeled down to Galahad, looking down while the Titanius clan head shifted to stare up at his one time ally.

"Why did you think this was a good idea Galahad, creating this government wouldn't have ended in anything other than strife and war between us, why did you do this?"

"Too long." The words were raspy and short as Galahad struggled to breath. "For too long have the extra-demon families and clans been mocked and ridiculed, we are devils like all of you, but we are considered less than those who stand as part of your regime. I would have the Extra-demons, all of us, stand up and declare ourselves your equals. Is that truly a crime worthy of this destruction?"

The Maou Lucifer rose, looking down at the man on the floor.

"Yes... yes it was. I'm sorry old friend."

A dark red ball of power gathered in his hand, pointed at the prone form of Romulus' father. In his final moments. Galahad turned to see his young son looking on in horror from the increasingly large hole in the burning bookshelf. Knowing his time was short and unwilling to allow his son to be discovered and likely killed the old devil let out every ounce of his remaining power in a massive wave. The blast sent the devil lord stumbling backwards before he fell on his rear, surprised by the seemingly useless and sudden attack. From his place on the floor of the burning library he let loose a blast of his Power of Destruction, obliterating Galahad, Helen and Remus' bodies in a flash of red light. The blast covered the entire room but thankfully for Romulus the last burst of his father's power had brought down the roof of the tunnel and the library, hiding the entrance to the tunnels and leaving the lord of demons none the wiser of how the last surviving member of the clan of Titanius laid safe but traumatised just beneath his feet. Looking around the room Sirzechs saw the last of the bookshelves collapse from the weight of his power and the fires. A shadow appeared next to him, solidifying into the form of his queen; Grayfia Lucifuge.

"Grayfia, is it done?" The man's voice was stoic but held and undercurrent of mournful disappointment.

"Yes my lord, the clan compound has been secured and all members have been eliminated. We weren't able to find the heir, Romulus, though." The grey-haired woman responded with her head bowed, her maid outfit spotless and pristine even in the blazing inferno of the compound.

"That is of no concern. He was here, I have taken care of him."

"My lord, should we have captured survivors, they would have been valuable to continue the bloodline of the Titanius."

"No, we had no need. We could not claim any without confirming our involvement and any who escaped long enough for us to claim in the aftermath might have evidence against us. They needed to be made an example of, even if we cannot officially claim responsibility, the rumours will soon circulate and it was an open secret they had planned rebellion."

"Very well my lord."

The lord of demons took one last look around the room, spotting in the far corner a small toy. He walked up to it and picked it up off of the ash covered floor.

"Grayfia..."

"Yes my lord."

Sirzechs held the toy tightly in his hands, his grip so firm and filled with magic that his fingers burned through the toy and left pieces to fall to the floor.

"Ensure there is no evidence to tie us to this. I want a formal declaration and our cover story released by tomorrow."

"Of course."

Mere meters underneath the two powerful devils Romulus pulled himself to his feet from where he had laid in the aftermath of falling down the staircase, the pain finally jolting him from his terror induced paralysis. Almost instantly he ran down the path to the door that he had been told not ten minutes before to escape through. As he passed the ancient statue, which somehow had not cracked or broken despite the rumbling of the compound, he grabbed the shield. The ancient weapon glowed briefly in his hands, the patterns that spiralled across its surface changing until their became chaotic and random. Taking no more than a moment to admire the beautiful artefact he sprinted down the narrow and semi-lit escape tunnels. As Romulus ran he ignored all the twists and turns that presented themselves, deaf to the explosion that rocked the hall behind him, blocking off each entrance after he was well past it. The hall continued its controlled demolition until Romulus found himself standing before the last door on the hall. Opening it he was met with the light of the Underworld's moon and stars.

Rumbles behind him caused Romulus to look back over his shoulder, only to see the tunnel collapsing behind him, getting closer and closer to the point that any delay in his escape would surely mean his death.

Pulling himself through the door despite his physical and mental exhaustion, Romulus managed to escape just as the last of the cave collapsed with a burst of dust and debris shooting past him as the final section closed behind him.

The young devil gasped and panted, laying on his back with the shield lying on his chest and the backpack crushed underneath him.

It took a few moments for the boy to catch his breath, feeling the air slowly return to his lungs and his heart rate gradually lower as the night went on.

Sitting up from his place and looking around, Romulus didn't recognise the place he had ended up but he knew he'd done as his father and mother had said. He'd run in a straight line, ignoring all the side passageways and not deviating from his course so his young mind came to the obvious conclusion that he was in the territory of Tannin. Staring around at the unfamiliar territory that he was sitting in, in the dead of night and with nothing to his name but a shield and a backpack of books a thought occur to the young devil.

' _How do I find him?'_

Before Romulus could concern himself with the whereabouts of the being his parents had specifically instructed him to find he heard the sounds of battle nearby. So much like the sounds he had just recently left behind with his escape from his own burning home, dread began to fill his heart as the sounds became louder and louder.

Two dragons rushed through the undergrowth, one of them long and elegant, glowing blue like the ocean with crystal blue eyes and a lengthy body like the dragons depicted and Chinese and Japanese myths which ended in a long and wispy tail that swayed in the wind as it fought.

The other dragon was different but no less breathtaking, its body the color of rock, sporting large wings and a more stocky figure often seen in European depictions of the legendary beasts with golden eyes and red-brown spikes going down its spine, ending in a sharp tail that was dripping a suspiciously red substance.

The two exchanged blows, the long blue dragon sinking its fangs into the other dragon's neck while the brown dragon tore the first's flank with its claws.

"This territory is mine, I have lain claim to the trees of this area." Shouted the Blue dragon in a distinctly feminine voice.

"And I have need of the trees in this area to feed my new clutch, the trees in my area have been picked free by scavengers." Said the other, its voice deeper and more masculine. "My mate has already died giving what little we have found to our newborns."

"You have already killed by own mate trying to take my apples, if I allow you to have any more of my children will die, I will not allow that."

Romulus had long passed the point where his young six year old mind should have shut down from trauma, but the sight of two majestic creatures fighting brought nothing but a fiery rage into his heart. After so much death that he had just witnessed he refused to allow another casualty to be added to the night. Running forward as fast as his exhausted legs could carry him, he reached towards the two mighty beasts, holding the shield in front of him as some sort of signal.

"STOP!" He yelled in his small voice, drowned by the violence between the two humongous beings. He was too late to realize the danger his impulsiveness had led him into when he saw the blue dragon's tail about to smash him, even without a deadly point at the end he knew it could crush him with neither noticing a thing.

Sending a small plea for forgiveness to his parents for wasting the chance they had given him he prepared for a swift death, making a final effort to protect himself by placing the shield in front of himself.

The tail came crashing down, impacting the shield but not crushing the boy. Instead there was a blast of light and the two dragons were flung apart, their massive bodies flung against a pair of nearby rock formations.

A crash sounded around him and air rushed around him disheveling his cloths and tossing his hair as a third dragon appeared. It fell from the sky and landed with a deafening slam.

"You will not fight with this child present... What has happened?" The large dragon glanced between the two downed beasts.

"Lord Tannin." The female dragon exclaimed. "Barren has invaded by territory, he was taking the apple I picked to feed my clutch, then this devil child came and attacked us."

The great dragon turned to the blue one.

"This was no attack Mizuchi, I saw what happened before I intervened. If you are to fight, do it somewhere where the Dragon Apple trees will not be harmed. I hope I do not have to tell you the same Barren?"

Both dragons looked on in fear, bowing their heads submissively to the great reptilian creature.

"Of course Lord Tannin, please forgive us."

"I will deal with the two of you in the morning. For now, you two are to share both of your territories."

The two began to protest, quite insistent in making known their dislike for one another.

"Mizuchi, allow Barren to pick enough apples to survive for the night, I will have someone come to aid in the growth of the apples in both of your territories. For now, get along and you will both prosper."

The two grumbled before nodding their heads in consent. The blue dragon Mizuchi moved back to a large lake that Romulus had not noticed originally. The other dragon, Barren, began moving in the opposite direction, towards what looked like a small mountain peeking out from the tips of the trees.

The large dark purple dragon crossed his two, equally large, arms over his chest and let out a huff of irritation. Turning his attention from the two separated and retreating squabblers he turned to look down at the young child.

Romulus felt uncomfortable with the intense stare that the giant creature was giving him.

"Who are you, boy?" Asked the Tannin, moving his hand to scratch his chin.

"R-romulus." Romulus squeaked out, his knees shaking, exhaustion and fear once again showing through. "Romulus Titanius."

The large dragon's eyes widened slightly, recognizing the name of the devil clan that lived close to his own territory.

"Titanius? Why are you here little one, should you not be home with your family?"

The young Extra-Devil's eyes began to water at the mention of his family. Tears gathered in his eyes and dropped down his face before falling to the ground.

"They... they aren't there anymore. Bad people came, they came and burned everything. Then the Maou came, he killed my mommy and dad."

From his position Tannin had to strain to hear the boy's small voice, but when he heard that the Titanius clan had been destroyed, by the forces of the Maou Lucifer of all devils, he reached down and scooped up the boy, placing him on his shoulders.

"Come, I will take you to Mephisto, he knew your family and parents well, he will help you."

The dragon reached down, plucking the boy from his place and setting him down on his enormous shoulders.

"Hold on."

No sooner had the words been said than the large purple dragon shot into the air. Romulus let loose his fear in an ear shattering scream as they soared through the heavens of hell. The distance was traveled at an impressive speed, mountains and gorges were passed in an instant and soon Romulus could feel the distinct trace of magic in the air. A magic circle, with the symbol for the Pheles family at its center appeared, encircling the two and obscuring the young devil's view before it broke away, revealing the light of the sun and depositing the dragon and devil on Earth. More specifically, the german countryside.

* * *

Romulus' lungs finally demanded that he inhale precious oxygen and so he stopped his screaming for a moment to take a breath. In that moment the rush of the wind stopped and the feeling of holding on for dear life against large g-force also ceased. Peaking out of one eye Romulus found that they were no longer within the dragon's territory, or at least, no part of the territory that he had been in. Around his were large fields that stretched as far as the eye could see, before giving way somewhere in the distance to a mountainous range that encircled the entire area.

In the center of the land was a large lake, with several structures built along it and numerous boats, people, and a large arrangement of slides formed from ice and stone either in it on on its edges. Large buildings littered the fields and countless individuals wandered between them, either in groups or in solitude. There were even areas where the young Titanius could see different people of different ages firing quantities of magic at each other, with explosions of elements occurring frequently between them. Many different methods of magical transport were abundant in the air as even more people zipped across the sky to different parts of the property.

A rumbling chuckle jarred him out of his stupor.

"It is quite and impressive sight." Rumbled Tannin. "Mephisto is an incredibly powerful devil, he could have easily risen to a high place in the underworld, instead he chose to stay amongst humans and teach them the ways of magic. Even I do not know why, though I suppose that his time amongst humans has not diminished his reputation amongst his own kind."

Stomping forward Tannin began a slow march to the largest castle, which stood at the edge of a large forest. Romulus was forced to run to keep up, his short legs not at all matching the mile eating strides of the former dragon king and leaving him in the dust after only a couple of strides of the enormous dragon.

"Fly boy." Said Tannin. "You have no hope of keeping pace with me on foot."

Romulus protested. "I can't fly, I haven't been taught yet."

"Flight amongst devils is instinctive, you are born with your wings, bring them out and take to the skies."

Romulus concentrated, he had seen many times how devils in his clan had unfurled their wings and lifted themselves into the air. Concentrating hard and grunting with effort he felt slight pain in his upper back, and moments later he felt the sensation of wind brushing his skin.

'What? Why?' He wondered, he was fully clothed, and it didn't feel like any limb or part of his body he had previously felt.

"Well done boy."

Romulus opened his eyes and glanced at his back, shocked that springing from his upper back were a pair of large bat-like wings. Testing them out he attempted to focus on the now sensations that were coming in from them, moving appendages that had never been moved before.

Several attempts were made, a few times he got the wings to twitch and flap but actual flight seemed nothing more than a pipe dream.

"I can't do it." He panted, having tried many times to rise into the air under his own power. "It's too hard, I can't do it."

Tannin grunted.

"Fine, it looks like plan B."

Picking up the boy he moved to place Romulus on his shoulders. Romulus relaxed slightly, his wings folding but not disappearing, only to scream loudly as he was catapulted to the large castle a couple of hundred meters away.

He reached the height of his arc far too soon and began to drop back towards earth, gravity pulling him down faster and faster as the young boy floundered in the air for some way to slow his descent. It was at the moment when he was nearing the tips of the castle's tallest towers that Tannin's words once again came to mind.

' _Flight amongst devils is instinctive.'_

Closing his eyes and concentrating solely on his wings he felt the leathery extremities extend. Angling them just right he allowed them to act as a glider, slowing and controlling his descent before he felt the familiar rush of his own demonic power rush to them. Suddenly he was hovering, his wings beating and keeping him afloat only a dozen or so meters above the ground. Grasping control of his power Romulus did his best to slowly lower himself to the ground, but failed as he dropped the whole way, landing in his butt and yelping in surprise and pain.

A huge thud sounded behind him as Tannin landed in the courtyard.

"Well, that's good, you actually managed to stop."

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Screamed Romulus as he got up from the ground, anger and fear causing his voice to crack and his heart to beat a mile a minute in his chest.

"To see if you could fly. I gotta say that was impressive, most devils I do that to end up crashing into the castle walls. Now come on, I'll take you to Mephisto."

The dragon-devil turned and walked into the castle, leaving the stunned young devil in his wake. Romulus stared at the retreating dragon, stunned at his crazed explanation. It took a few moments before the boy realised he was being left behind, after which he concentrated his wings to move himself forward. He eventually came, floating next to Tannin instead of running in order to get used to the wings that he had just awakened.

* * *

 **AN: Here we go, the start of my newest story. Now for the record, the characters that are in the main series will not appear for a while. For now I will be exploring the magic and world that the DxD universe constructed and create my own society and characters. There may be some brief cameos from the likes of Azazel, Vali and others but for the most part it will focus on the OC Romulus' training and understanding his own abilities.**

 **Info:**

 **The members Titanius clan have been called the titans of defense. They have a monumentally large capacity for defensive magic as well as physical offense and defense which made most of them very sought after choices for the rook position in a devil's peerage. The previous clan leader; Galahad Titanius was said to be capable of taking hits from any of the Satans and walking away with only scratched and bruises to show for it, which led the extra-demon clan to become one of the most respected clans in the extra-demon territories. The downside of this incredible resilience and endurance is that the Titanius clan is completely incapable of performing offensive magic and most other forms of sorcery. For example a Titanius member who can use an S-ranked defense technique; capable of withstanding attacks from high-class devils and angels, would not be able to conjure even the most simple of attack spells. For this reason Titanius clan members are not considered good candidates for the positions of queen or bishop.**


	2. Chapter 2

Titan of Defense Chapter 2

Romulus followed Tannin into the heart of the caste. He stared amazed at the walls and ceilings which were covered in tapestries and paintings depicting dozens… no hundreds… no thousands of different events.

Reaching the end of the hallway Romulus and Tannin came face to face with a set of huge doors. Tannin placed his clawed hand on the door, pushing it open and moving through them.

Sitting him the center of the large chamber were twelve seats stationed around a large round table. only one of them was filled at the moment. The man sitting opposite them was tall, that much could be observed despite him being seated. He also had black hair and heterochromatic eyes; one blue and the other red. Romulus didn't see much else to observe until but as he had been instructed by his father over the last few months of his initial training he tried, very amateurishly, to feel his demonic power.

The young man was brought to his knees, the power that he felt was indescribable, so massive that without even dwelling into its depths he could see that it was bigger than any he had felt before.

"You are Romulus Titanius." Said the figure in a deep resounding voice.

Romulus let out ragged breaths as he suffered from the cold sweat that just being in the presence of this man's power produced. Forcing his stomach to settle, lest he empty the contents of his stomach onto the floor, the young extra-devil stood up looking at the man but avoiding looking directly into his intense eyes.

"Y-y-yes... I-I am." He stuttered, still feeling the effects of such overwhelming might.

"You are right to fear my power boy." He said, rising from his seat and making his way towards the two. Tannin was smirking as he watched his king stand directly in front of the boy, and watched as the hatchling bowed his head to stare at his slipper covered feet instead of the intimidating man in front of him.

"However, you need not fear me. I was a friend of your mother and father for centuries, I mean you no harm. Come, sit and tell me what has forced you so far from home." Mephisto offered Romulus a seat next to him, which the boy gratefully took. Seating himself back in his original seat he motioned from Romulus to recount his tale.

Romulus stared from the beginning, explaining the burning of his home, his father's explanation of the tunnel and his near brush with death at the hands of the Maou Lucifer, and finally relaying the final details about his escape into Tannin's territory and subsequent travel to Mephisto's castle. Throughout out the story the old devil was silent, interrupting only to ask for clarification or further explanation about certain aspects of his ordeal. By the time the final details were conveyed Mephisto had a contemplative look on his face and his hands laced together and held up to cover his mouth from view.

Mephisto turned to Tannin, ignoring Romulus as they began to converse.

"Do you think the boy is accurate, Sirzechs doesn't seem like the type to exterminate an entire clan this way, he would sooner try for peace."

Mephisto shook his head, his brilliant mind working through the possibilities

"His story is believable, Galahad has long been calling for the extra-demons to stand and declare themselves the equals of the main Anti-Satan faction and to form a new government to rival the main underworld's. Sirzechs is a peace loving man, but he didn't become the lord of all demons by giving up power to others, and he was correct that the formation of a separate government would cause major strife, not only between the present establishment and the new regime but also within the current government as well. The Old-Satan faction is still a very present threat to the majority of devil-kind and if new government is formed without the new Maou's direct approval and cooperation, they may view it as a sign of weakness and increase their aggression."

"But still, the Titanius clan were fierce warriors during the Great War. With things the way they are now and the devil faction weakened as it is since the civil war, they wouldn't toss away such a valuable bloodline."

"Possibly, but Galahad was likely planning on the Underworld's diminished capacity for war to start his revolution, an active rebellion at a time like this could have further destabilized the Underworld and brought about another civil war between the new Satans and the extra-demons. Don't forget Tannin that Galahad Titanius was a devil, and more than most devils he was cunning and clever."

A tug on Mephisto's dangling sleve prompted both of the two males to look down, seeing the crying face of Romulus Titanius, who had been listening the entire time to the two of them discussing his father as if he were some kind of rebellion leader, even though for all intents and purposes he was one, Romulus did not need his parent demonized or presented to him negatively at the moment. He needed to grieve.

"Is that why he hurt my mom and dad? Were they doing bad things to others?" His voice was broken, all the trauma finally catching up and working its way through the young boy's psyche.

"No Romulus." Said Mephisto softly, trying his best to comfort the distraught child. "Your father wasn't bad, your father and mother loved you very much, they gave their lives so that you could live your any way you wanted. Now lets find you a place to sleep and tomorrow we'll talk more."

Standing up Mephisto offered Romulus a hand, which the boy took and together the two made their way to one of the many rooms in the castle that would serve as the young devil's quarters for the foreseeable future.

* * *

Morning

Romulus Titanius woke up in an unfamiliar room, surrounded by unfamiliar things, in an unfamiliar (but incredibly comfortable) bed with an unfamiliar man standing by the door. Instantly Romulus thought of shouting for his mother or father or any of his family members that were supposed to reside in the rooms across or next to him. He had sat up and opened his mouth when the memories of the last night crashed into him like a truck. The six year old child began to hyperventilate as he finally realized the severity of his new situation, his parents were dead, lost to him forever and now he was in the human world under the uncertain protection of a man he had only met that day.

The man standing at his door cleared his throat, drawing Romulus' attention to the man.

"Good morning, Master Romulus, I am Alexander. I am here to prepare you for your meeting with lord Mephisto and lord Tannin, Please get up and we can have you dressed and escorted."

Romulus climbed out of bed, following the man into the connected master bathroom before getting into the luxurious shower and scrubbing himself of all the dust and debris that had accumulated on him over the previous day. By the time he got out there was a set of cloths on his bed and the servant informed him that he would wait outside to escort him to Mephisto before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Romulus, took the set of cloths to find a set of casual nobleman's cloths that consisted of a formal dress shirt and pants, socks and shoes. He dressed quickly and left the room, following the servant through the massive castle the two entered into an enormous garden, trees growing on the sides of a path that grew high into the air, dozens of unique and diverse flora growing on the ground or on the sides of the trees. The sounds of insects and animals resonated through the air as the two moved further into the contained jungle.

Finally the two came to a shelter where both Mephisto and Tannin were present. The former dragon king had drastically reduced his size in order to fit into the smaller space, even so, he stood at an impressive 7'10 while Mephisto stood beside him.

"Ah Romulus." The devil greeted the young clan heir as he noticed him and Alexander approaching. "Thank you Alexander for bringing him here. You are dismissed."

The servant bowed to the devil before he retreated back into the castle, leaving the three devils alone in the garden.

"Romulus, how much of yesterday do you remember?" Mephisto asked, knowing that trauma like the boy had experienced could sometimes be repressed as a coping mechanism. He got his answer as soon as the boy's eyes became empty and haunted.

"Everything." His voice was small and scared, as if he was afraid that more people would materialize to finish what they started.

"Romulus." Said Mephisto. "There are some issues that we need to discuss. From what I was able to gather last night Sirzechs is unaware of your survival, but eventually they will find out."

Romulus' eyes widened in terror, shivers taking over his body as he began to hyperventilate at the thought of dying at the hands of the Maou.

"Calm yourself Romulus." Ordered Mephisto who placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, calming him. "Fortunately, based on what you told us Sirzechs performed the massacre extra-judiciallly in order to conserve peace with the other extra-demon houses and will have to place blame on a scapegoat in order to maintain his position. We can use that to our advantage. Sirzechs will be unable to come after you directly with any of the resources that the Maous or house Gremory possesses to avoid either him or his family being implicated for your death. Also, with your presence here in my castle we can create a cover story claiming you were not at the compound when the massacre took place and were not involved. Sirzechs will have no reason to disbelieve the excuse as it is well known that I am a good friend of your family."

"But you remember what the kid told us Mephisto, Galahad and Helen used the kid's cousin Remus to stage his death, if we claim he was here the whole time it'll undermine that story."

"Perhaps, but still we can manipulate the story to convince the Maous that we had no part and the staging of Romulus' death could be rationalised as trying to draw attention away from his son in his last moments. It might not help us but if we manoeuvre ourselves correctly if does not have to hurt us."

"Fine, we'll make his survival know, but won't he still want him dead? The possibility of Romulus finding out the truth and rallying the extra-demons against him is a real possibility, however slight." Tannin's deep voice was heard for the first time in the meeting, posing his query to Mephisto.

"No, with the Titanius clan all but annihilated and Romulus as the only survivor Sirzechs will have the perfect chance to quell an uprising before it can begin again. Galahad was not the only extra-demon leader to suggest forming a new system and Sirzechs can not destroy all the houses that are whispering dissent. But if he can get his hands on the heir of the most vocal clan for separation and join him to his own government then an uprising can be quelled."

Tannin's eyes widened as he realized the implications of Mephisto's words. "He plans to marry Romulus into the Gremory house, or at least some house that is closely tied to his own."

Mephisto nodded as Romulus felt his panic rise "Correct Tannin, Sirzechs will most likely try to marry Romulus off into either his house, possibly by arranging a marriage with his sister Rias Gremory, or into an allied house like the Beals or the Sitris."

"Mr. Mephisto." Said Romulus, his eyes widened with fear and apprehension. "Are they going to take me, I don't want to go with him, he killed my mom and dad."

"No Romulus, you won't be going with Sirzechs. Fortunately your parents were not fools and decided to name me as your legal guardian in the case of their deaths, most likely because they feared this very outcome. You will be staying here for the foreseeable future."

Romulus breathed a sigh of relief before he turned his attention back to the two adults. "Thank you. But what do I do now, m-my mo-mom and dad are d-d-dead." His voice degraded further and further into sobs as he continued to talk about his deceased parents.

"There are two options for you my boy, you can either stay here and spend the time learning from myself and my colleagues, or you can stay until you are old enough to look after yourself and then head out on your own. It is your decision."

The young boy looked down at his feet, his face a mask of intense concentration as he considered both his options with all the sophistication that a six year old possessed. Minutes passed as the older devils waited, watching the debate that raged in the boy's mind over what to do.

Finally after several minutes of deliberation with himself Romulus looked up.

"I want to stay here, I want to learn how to use magic."

Both males gave nods of assent, accepting the boy's choice.

"Very well, we will begin your training immediately, we will have to prepare you incase Sirzechs finds means to kill you that will not be traced back to him." The group stood from their places and made their way back the entrance of the garden. At the door a servant was there to meet them, handing Mephisto a scroll before departing. Mephisto pulled the scroll open, scanning its contents with a critical eye before giving a sigh.

"It appears that the Titanius clan was annihilated last night by a group of devils from within the clan. The perpetrators was after the family's secret techniques and killed the entire rest of the clan in a mad grab for them. Local and governmental forces arrived to find the compound burned to the ground and the entire clan slaughtered."

Tannin and Mephisto exchanged glances before the two looked down to Romulus. The young boy was shivering as he recalled the burning fire that took up his vision when it was mentioned.

"No survivors were found and it was reported that the clan head Galahad Titanius as well as his wife Helen Titanius and their son Romulus Titanius all died in the attack, other remains were pulled from the fire which are suspected to be the remains of the attackers, who were also all killed."

The group moved through the halls as Mephisto finished reading. Rolling up the scroll he placed it in his robes.

"There will not be much time, in order to avoid suspicion I will have to immediately report your location here and acknowledge that you have been here for at least a significant enough amount of time that confirms we have no knowledge of the true perpetrators of the massacre. Tannin, you will begin Romulu's training today, I want him to have knowledge of basic defense and warning spells by the time Sirzechs gets here."

Tannin looked surprised and Romulus froze in terror at the thought of Sirzechs coming and seeing him.

"Mephisto, are you serious, you want me to start his training today, I'm all for putting him to work quickly but the boy's family was killed yesterday, he hasn't even had time to grieve."

"And he won't if he is killed by some assassin in the night. When I deliver the new of Romulus' survival Sirzechs or some surrogate of his will come immediately to assess how much we know."

"Very well. Come boy, we are going to start training."

"O-o-ok" Stammered Romulus, the memory of how Tannin taught flight scaring him over the prospect of learning more from the former dragon king.

* * *

 **Lilith**

Around a table the four satans were holding a meeting. Sirzechs, the satan in charge of internal affairs of the underworld, cleared his throat to draw the attention of the other three satans.

"First order of business, the destruction of the Titanius clan. Last night, myself and my peerage led the attack the destroyed the clan in their territory, the clan head Galahad and his wife; Helen, were both killed in the attack. However, we just received word from Mephisto Pheles that the clan heir, Romulus Titanius, has been with him at his estate for the past two weeks learning the ways of magic."

Ajuka Beelzebub leaned forward, resting his face against his intertwined hands.

"You said that he was killed? The report states that Galahad himself confirmed that you had killed him."

"A decoy perhaps." Rebuffed Sirzechs.

"But why have a decoy if the boy was not in the compound?"

"A distraction?" Falbium Asmodeus offered.

"Perhaps." Ajuka waved off his fellow Maou. "The more important question is if the boy knew about the coup?"

"From what Mephisto relayed he does not, if he did I do not believe that Mephisto would inform us of him. It is possible that Mephisto suspects us considering his connection to Galahad and Helen but the boy is in mourning for his family. All in all he does not seem to suspect anything."

Serafall's childish face morphed into one of dismay at the thought of a child who was the same age as her baby sister Sona losing his parents.

"Awww, I hope he's not depressed, can I be the one to see him? PLEASE!? I'll hug him and make him feel better and bring him home with me and give him to Sona as a gift..."

"Serafall." Sirzechs tried to interrupt the monologuing Mauo

"...And then when they get older they'll kiss, and then I'll kiss him and Sona'll kiss me and then we'll all kiss and that'll lead to some threesome sisterly love and then we'll all get married and-"

"Serafall!" Said Sirzechs in a more commanding voice, breaking Serafall out of her thoughts. "None of us will be taking the boy in, trying to gain control of the heir of of a house that was just destroyed less than a day ago and was all but known to be a house that was planing to rebel is far too suspicious. For now we will bide our time until the underworld finishes processing the news and then we can continue to plan for the future of the Titanius house and the underworld."

Ajuka Beelzebub spoke once again.

"The main question is how to make sure that there will be no further houses who will rebel; within our borders or in the extra-demon territories. A marriage of the boy into one of our closer allied houses will give us a gate into the extra-demon community and a way to influence against further uprisings."

"A decent plan Ajuka." Said Falbium Azmodeus, speaking out for the first time. "However you have forgotten that extra-devils are exorcised from their clans when they chose to join with the main underworld faction. That in and of itself will prevent us from using him in any form of public alliance. Add to that that the circumstances of his family's massacre will make it impossible for any of our houses to take him in."

"But the boy is not a member of his clan, he is the clan." Pointed out Sirzechs.

"Yes… Romulus Titanius is in the rare position where whichever side he choses to join will have the full support of the Titanius clan, all their wealth, all their lands, all their power and influence. The extra-demons cannot allow such a house to leave their reach, especially when it is so easy to gain the clan's full support through political or matrimonious alliances. The boy is only a child after all, and is inexperienced in the workings of the world at large." Retorted Ajuka.

"So they will try to dig their claws into him in order to obtain an ally that they can fully control." Reasoned Serafall, breaking her normally childish disposition as she contributed to a political debate, indicating, one of the reasons why she had been chosen as the Maou Leviathan over Grayfia Lucifuge.

"No, with the death of his parents Romulus had legally been left in the care of Mephisto." Informed Sirzechs. "He will protect the boy, although I am sure that Mephisto has his suspicions."

"If he suspected us he would have hidden the boy for at least a little while longer." Said Falbium.

"No. It is because he suspects us that he answered so quickly. He knows that he cannot hide the boy indefinitely, and trying will simply bring down more suspicion. He was attempting to throw us off the scent by acting as if he didn't know and just received the news." Explained Ajuka

"How can you tell?" Asked Sirzechs, stumped by the Maou Beelzebub's words.

"He answered too quickly, he had time to formulate a response that attracted the least amount of suspicion, but he informed us immediately. He still should have taken some time to have the letter written out and devise the story, even reporting the truth would have taken more time than the old devil had. Which means he had the story figured out before we informed anyone."

"So, what shall we do? We can't go public with this suspicion, it would draw too much attention to ourselves. Not to mention we would have to admit to our involvement to question him on it." Falbium said.

"We act as if we suspect nothing, we allow Mephisto to believe he has fooled us and wait. Once they have lowered their guard to an acceptable degree we will either take out the Titanius or ensure that he has some tie to our side that ensures his loyalty."

"Very well." Said Sirzechs. "We will stand by and wait for an opportunity."

"That's boring!" Complained Serafall in a childish voice, regaining her joyful tone and false innocence. "I'm gonna go see him, and hug him all better and then he's going to come home with me."

A large blue magic circle appeared at Serafall's feet, about to transport her away, when the magic changed hue to a deep green and fragmented before shattering into pieces. Ajuka Beelzebub sat in his seat with a bored expression on his face as he twirled a miniature magic formula between his fingers, disabling the Maou Leviathan's transportation spell.

"We agreed on this Serafall, none of us are going to meet the boy in person. Either one of our peerage members or someone else under our direct command will be seeing to the boy's status."

The devil pouted, her childish face contorting into a frown.

"Fine. But when one of us can go see him I want to be the one to do it."

"That will be acceptable. However as of now we must decide who to send on our behalf."

"I would recommend my wife Grayfia. Our son is only a few months old at this time and she can easily facilitate the facade of a mother who is concerned for the newly orphaned boy. Does anyone have any objections?"

None of the satans raised their hands and so Sirzechs waved his hand, signaling that the meeting was adjourned.

* * *

 **Pheles Mansion: Global Magic Association Headquarters**

Romulus slammed against the bark of one of the many massive trees that stood tall and stoic in the forest. Tannin stood before him with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the young and struggling boy.

"Stand up boy."

"I-i can't"

"You will. Your training is not done. You have yet to block a blow from me."

Romulus planted both his hands on his knees, pushing with all his might he managed to force his six year old body upright. Placing his hands in front of him raw magic power flowed through his body until it took on the form of a hexagonal shield made from smaller hexagons. Tannin stepped forwards, slamming his tail against the ground next to him to create a crater, moderating the power of his swing but also serving to convey to Romulus the severity of his training.

The tail swung forwards, rocketing forwards at a speed that would have mortals disbelieving that something so large could move with such speed.

Romulus stood his ground. His shield spell shining a purple color in the afternoon sun. He could see the tail coming, his devilish eyes perceiving the tail and his mind processing the information far faster than a mortal mind could. To him the tail came as a fast pace but after seeing two dragons fight in earnest he knew just how little power the former dragon king was using.

Tannin's strike slammed into the Romulus' shield with enough force to rattle the young one's teeth, following through and flinging the young boy back against the bark of the tree that he had become quite familiar with over the course of the last several hours of resisting Tannin's attacks.

Romulus nearly passed out from the pain shooting up and down his spine, his eyes screwed shut to try in vain to block out the burning agony filling his body.

"Impressive."

The low growl from his trainer jarred the young devil out of his state of pain prevention and got him to open his eyes. His body had easily been uprooted from its spot by the dragon's tail smash but the shield spell that Romulus had erected stood strong and firm, albeit extensively cracked. Seeing his success brought a new feeling to the forefront of the young devil's mind. It made his chest contract and he felt for the first time since his family had died; happiness.

"YEEEEAAAAHHHH!"

The word soared from his throat, echoing off the trees that surrounded the clearing that inhabited. From his position Tannin nodded his head in recognition of the boy's progress and success.

"You have done well boy. Your shield was able to block my strike, but that was but a fraction of a fraction of my power. If you wish to be truly strong you must constantly work. You must constantly train and refine yourself. Only then will you ascend to a position where you will be free of threat."

"Does that mean... if I become strong enough, I'll be able to avenge my mom and dad?"

Tannin stiffened slightly. He knew what thought path the boy was going down and it was by no means a pleasant one. Over his many millenium of life he had seen more than his fair share of avengers who sacrificed everything to achieve their justice or revenge. He knew just how empty revenge really felt when a lifetime is dedicated to it.

"You should not focus solely on revenge boy. I have seen too many tragedies that begin with the thoughts you are having. Neither your parents nor your clan would want you to waste this chance you have been given on a foolish quest."

"But they would want me to get justice for them. To make sure the bad people who hurt them got pinu... puniche... punished?"

"Perhaps hatchling, but for now do not focus on revenge, focus on what the world has to offer you. Seek out whatever purpose you believe to be yours and taste the life that your family sacrificed themselves to give you."

"...Alright."

"Good. Now I want you to improve your physical strength. To one such as you it is as important as your magic. Turn and punch the bark of the tree behind you one thousand times."

Romulus groaned in pain and annoyance but did not disobey. Turning his back to the dragon he began to strike the hard bark of the trees.

"This wood is known as Bull-oak." Explained Tannin as Romulus repeatedly punched the bark. "It is the strongest form of wood known to man. The orchards that are kept by the magic association are grown with the aid of magic to make them stronger than even their natural counterparts and are used to create staffs, wands and magical foci that beings from every pantheon use. The tree you are currently punching is over six times as strong as titanium."

"But... why... are... you... getting... me... to... punch... this... thing...?" Asked the child with an obvious grit in his teeth. His knuckles were already bleeding and the boy had only just reached fifty strikes.

"I explained boy, you must increase your physical strength. Your family prided itself on its abilities to not only resist and recover wounds but also their emphasis on raw power over magical strength."

"But why do I have to punch an invincible tree? It's stupid!"

"Your father trained using this method. Do you wish to disappoint him by being incapable of matching him"

That was all the answer that Tannin gave and it was all the answer that Romulus needed. Concentrating hard he smashed his fists over and over again into the bark of the bull-oak tree, the blood smearing over the bark until prints made from the red liquid had seeped into the tree. It took more than three hours, during which time neither student nor teacher moved from their spots.

Finally, the last punch was thrown and the blood soaked hands of Romulus Titanius fell by his sides. The boy's face was stained with tears and his whole body shook from exhaustion and red hot agony. Finally finished his task the six year old allowed himself to give into his appropriate childish nature. The screams started mere seconds after he dropped to his knees, cradling his broken hands to his chest and sniffing as water, snot and blood dripped onto the ground.

"Come, give me your hands." The voice was surprisingly soft, given its usual hardness, and possessed an undertone of pride and praise. "You have impressed me boy, not many would have been willing to do even a tenth of what you have just completed."

Bandages were produced from some pocket dimension and wrapped around Romulus' bleeding hands. The white cloth was secured as blood began to dye the material crimson red.

"We are finished for now. I shall return you to Mephisto and he will assign someone to train you in the magics of your clan, the scrolls your parents packed for you are extensive."

"Will Mr. Mephisto teach me how to do cool magic like my dad?"

Tannin chuckled, despite the sadness and sorrow that he could see in the depths of the boy's eyes, those childish orbs flashed with delight at the thought of learning magic. After all isn't it every child's dream to be a wizard?

"Perhaps, most likely he will have one of our most trusted scholars assist you while I continue to oversee your physical training."

All at once the wonder and delight drained from Romulus' eyes and were replaced by annoyance and fear, a combination Tannin found very amusing to watch play out on the hatchling's face.

"Come boy. Now is the perfect time to practice your flight."

The dragon's huge wings unfurled, flapping so hard that it created an updraft that snapped the branches of more than a few trees. The devil-dragon was soon off the ground and hovering in the air, magic sustaining his altitude so that he would not have to destroy the surrounding forest.

Romulus watched his mentor take flight and concentrated to attempt to replicate the process. Concentrating intensely he felt the same sensations arching across his body as he brought out his wings.

Turning his head he meant to inspect the leathery appendages with secret disappointment. When he had first brought out his wings he had hoped against all hope that his own wings would be different from the average devil's, perhaps scaled and draconic like Tannin's. Or maybe he would get black feathered wings like the fallen angels or maybe even multiple pairs of wings on his back.

instead what he saw blew away all his fantacies. Against all odds the normal bat wings had been replaced and instead on his back were two pieces of metal. They were shaped like the base of bird wings but from them flowed not white feathers, not even black or metal ones. Instead lines of waving purple energy cascaded down from above his head to his lower back, swaying softly in a non-existent breeze before falling in a stable river of light.

Stunned by the revelation that his wings were anything but what was to be expected Romulus looked for the guidance of the dragon who had become his mentor, only to be shocked at the utter expression of bewilderment on the former dragon king's face. Deciding the test the new appendages to see if there was a different mode of utility Romulus concentrated on raising off the ground. He felt a tingle of energy fill his being as power flowed from his center into the wings. The light flared up, changing from a matt purple to a shining vibrant violet. The boy shot up into the air, stopping on front of Tannin. Romulus stared back at the twin rivers of light that came from his back and his face exploded into an impossibly large grin. Whooping with exhilaration, his exhaustion seemingly forgotten he zoomed through the air around where he had been training, ducking diving dipping and performing various tricks that his young mind had imagined during the countless times he had imagined he could fly.

Tannin's eyes stayed glued to the young hatchling, shocked by the sudden transformation of the appearance of the boy's wings. He had seen the child's bat like appendages just yesterday but overnight they had undergone such change. He had known that some Titanius clan memebers' wings changed from black to steel grey when they became powerful enough but he had never seen the kind of fundamental change in the appearance of the wings of any devil, with the exception of the Phenex clan's wings of fire. Was it possible that Romulus had some Phenex blood buried somewhere in him? Had the two lineages merged? With the presence of the metal base there may be some basis for the theory that Phenex fire wings and Titanius clan grey wings had given rise to some new power. But that was impossible. As far as he knew the Titanius clan had no connection to the Phenex clan and Romulus had none of the damn fire chicken's blood in him. He would have to report this extreme change to Mephisto and maybe they alongside Romulus could discover the means through which this change had occurred.

The dragon was broken out of his thoughts as a small speck zoomed across his line of sight. He turned to see Romulus doing a triple backflip in mid-air.

"Boy do not expend too much energy. You have already worked yourself to near exhaustion you must be pruden-"

His warning was left unfinished as as he was performing an upward spiral the light left his eyes at the same time the last of his energy did. The unconscious boy fell towards the earth but only made it as far as the treetops before he was caught by Tannin.

"Reckless child, to attempt to perform such tricks so soon after a training session." However he could not keep the crooked smile from forming on his face as he carried the boy to the Mephisto mansion for the second time in two days.

* * *

Done. It took me so long to get this one the way I wanted it. For those of you wondering Romulus' wings look like Imperius' from Diablo 3 but purple instead of gold.


	3. Chapter 3

**Next up on the list; Chapter 3. I wanted to get this one out faster than chapter 2 and I really hope you enjoy.**

* * *

For the second time in two days Mephisto and Tannin were talking about the fate of the Titanius clan heir as the boy himself laid unconscious in front of them.

"I'll say it again Mephisto. The boy's wings were extraordinary. Energy stemming from metal bases. They were unlike anything I have seen outside of the Phenex clan."

"But Romulus has no Phenex blood in him. The Titanius and the Phenex clans have had a rivalry for thousands of years." Disputed Mephisto. The old devil was stumped over the change in Romulus and now the two were trying to rationalize the strange turn of events.

"Perhaps experimentation then. Many devil houses have experimented on their young to increase their abilities. Just look at the genetic trials conducted by the old Lucifer family."

"I highly doubt that experimentation is the reason. Galahad had a great dislike for artificial strengthening of a lineage. He, alongside Helen and the house at large, believed that the only strength worthy of being acknowledged is strength gained through hard work."

"But if he was desperate enough, perhaps he wanted his son to have the strength to aid in the rebellion."

"If that were true then the change would not be purely aesthetic, from what you have told me there is no real change in the boy's level of demonic power."

As the two discussed the consequences of Romulus' sudden change in wing aesthetic the door to the room burst open, a servant rushing into the room carrying a stack of papers.

"Lord Mephisto, Lord Tannin, I have the finished biological report on Master Romulus that you requested upon your return."

Mephisto took the papers from the servant's arms and looked over the report.

"No noticeable alterations to his DNA or magic power. Shows multiple bruises across the body as well as severe but recoverable damage to the knuckles of both hands-" Mephisto raised an eyebrow at Tannin as he said that. "No internal injuries."

Flipping through the report and skimming the information he landed on the examination of Romulus' magic.

"Enhanced levels of magic uncommon in the body of a six year old based on demonic averages. Presence of foreign magic in the system but holds similarities to his natural magic signature. Magic signature registered as from Helen Titanius. Addendum: Foreign magic found was discovered to be caused by a dormant king evil piece integrated into the host's body. Said evil piece is attuned with both Romulus and Helen Titanius' magic signatures."

Tannin looked shocked at the newfound information.

"He had a king piece inside him? No wonder he was able to endure as long as he did, just the passive boost given by such a piece would be enough to put him on par with a devil twice his age."

"Indeed, strange that neither of us noticed this. Perhaps Helen implanted it in him shortly before her death. As some sort of last gift."

As the two continued to talk the servant who was still standing, waiting to be dismissed, felt a message echoing in his communication relay spell. Activating the spell and creating a magic circle next to his ear he listened as news was relayed to him. Affirming that he had received the message he dismissed the spell and turned to his master.

"Sir." Interrupted the servant.

"Yes Damien."

"I'm sorry to interrupt sir but our guards are reporting that Grayfia Lucifuge has arrived at the gates and is asking to enter on official Maou buisness."

 _'Already? I expected a timely response but I had at least expected to be given until tomorrow to prepare Romulus for her arrival.'_ Thought Mephisto, but he could not act with open hostility nor acknowledge that Romulus was to be coached for his response to the arrival of whoever the Maous decided to send.

 _'But to send Sirzechs' queen, she would most likely have been part of the attack on the Titanius herself. To have her come to confront the heir of the clan she just yesterday helped destroy, has Sirzechs no heart?'_

The old demon lord was shaken out of his thoughts by Damien.

"Shall I have the guards turn her away my lord?"

"No... allow her entrance, have her escorted to the primary meeting hall and tell her we will arrive shortly."

"Yes sir."

The servant Damien turned and retreated out of the room, informing the guards surrounding the estate to allow the female devil entrance. As the door closed behind him Tannin and Mephisto were once again left alone with the unconscious body of Romulus.

"Tannin I want you to go meet with Grayfia and keep her occupied while I prepare Romulus."

"What? Why don't you send some of the servants?"

"She will only bully them into taking her here. You are someone who even she is not powerful enough to cross."

"Fine I'll go."

Tannin walked out of the room and down the halls to the great hall, though as he walked he grew taller and taller until he disappeared, close to his full height so it sounded more like stomping.

Turning back to the unconscious boy in front of him Mephisto reached his hands forward until they rested slightly above Romulus' body. Channeling magic through his hands he cast a healing and rejuvenation spell he watched as the various visible bruises left over from Tannin's training faded away. Unwrapping the bandages on his hands the once bloody and broken knuckles were good as new, the only traces of the injury being that the skin was slightly red and raw from just then being regenerated. The boy's eyes fluttered open as his energy returned. Rubbing his eyes he let out a large yawn and stretched his sore arms to try to banish the lingering tiredness.

Turning his head to take in the room he saw Mephisto sitting in front of him.

"Mr. Mephisto? What's going on? Why 'm I here? Are you going to teach me magic?"

Mephisto smiled at the boy's childish excitement.

"I am sorry Romulus but not today. A member of Sirzechs' peerage has come to validate our story and your health." Romulus' face paled, his pupils dilated and his palms began to sweat, a classic show of fear.

"Calm yourself child. You have nothing to be concerned over. She is not here to harm you, she has only been sent to confirm whether or not you have any knowledge of the annihilation of your clan."

"But I do... Mr Mephisto, so can't she find out?"

"Usually yes, she will most likely attempt to read your mind during her visit. Fortunately I am not without my own tricks. I will seal your memories and replace the missing time with artificially created ones. you will be for all intents and purposes, completely unaware of what happened."

Romulus' eyes widened in amazement and fear.

"W-w-will I get my memories back?"

"Yes boy, I will return them to you when she had left."

"B-but w-what if I don't w-want them b-back?"

Mephisto's eyes softened and sympathy stirred in his normally cold heart. The possibility of permanently altering the boy's mind had never really occurred to him but hearing him ask to never have to remember the pain of seeing everything he loved disappear in front of him must have appeared as a god-send to him.

"I do not know Romulus. But would you like to know what I think about it?"

Magenta eyes looked up and gazed into heterochromatic counterparts before Mephisto took a seat next to the young devil.

"I believe that you should remember, remember what it was that your parents did for you to survive. Remember what it is you are fighting for. Use the pain to become stronger and never allow others to suffer what you have. I believe that is what your family would want."

Sniffing Romulus wiped his hand across his nose, before looking up at the old devil.

"Thanks Mr. Mephisto. I think you're right. Mommy and Daddy and everyone else would want me to remember them, even if I have to remember seeing them go. Can we do this now?"

"Of course. But before everything else. I would like to say Romulus that you are perhaps one of the wisest men I have met in quite a while, and you are only six years old... I look forwards to our talks as old men."

"The young boy smiled up at the old devil, his teeth shining as he absorbed the praise.

"Thanks Mr Mephisto."

Mephisto brought his hand up and placed his palm on Romulus' head, his hand glowing with magic as he manipulated the young boy's mind to forget the terrible tragedy that had befallen him, locking the memories behind a great inner gate and then disguising it so that it would not be found by the she-devil sitting not far away.

Romulus' eyes dulled as he forgot the terrible ordeal of the previous day and instead had his mind filled with false memories of of staying at the Mephisto compound for several weeks before the incident occurred.

In the end the change to his mind took no more than five minutes to accomplish but by the end more than two weeks of false memories were used to cover their story, made so flawlessly that only the best physics in the world would be able to tell that they were fake. The dull vacant look vanished from Romulus' eyes and right before he jumped from the bed, a confused look now on his face

"Mr. Mephisto? What 're you doing here?"

"I am here to retrieve you Romulus we are going to see Grayfia to confirm your presence here before the death of your parents."

The moment the words were spoken a depressed look entered the child's eyes, however there was none of the haunted brokenness that showed he had any knowledge of what had perpetrated it or had even been present for it.

"Ok."

The two walked out into the hallway, moving further and further towards the meeting place where Grayfia and Tannin waited.

* * *

Hours later the four maous sat at their table, Grayfia standing before them.

"What did you conclude from your visit?"

Those were the first words spoken since Grayfia had arrived. Ajuka had his hands woven together and a hard look on his face as he scrutinized the 'Strongest queen'. Grayfia herself shivered ever so slightly under his intense gaze. Despite her normally stoic and emotionless stance even she feared the green-haired superdevil sitting in front of her.

"Ajuka." Interupted Sirzechs. "Do not try to intimidate my wife."

"I am not trying to intimidate her Sirzechs. I am simply asking for a report on the mission that she was instructed to complete."

"Maou-sama." Grayfia chose to interrupt to the two before anything could happen. "I completed the mission and I can conclude that Romulus Titanius has no knowledge of what happened to his house. Mephisto may have his suspicions but they have no way of confirming it was us."

"How do you know this?"

"While I was talking to Mephisto and the boy I performed a subtle mind probe on him. Romulus' memories of the past two weeks were of training with Mephisto and Tannin and playing with others his age. I found no evidence that he even suspects us. Mephisto may yet share his suspicions with the boy but he has no knowledge of out involvement."

Sirzechs turned to Ajuka.

"What do you make of this? You were the one who claimed that Romulus knew of our actions and had informed Mephisto."

Ajuka stroked his chin thoughtfully, his brilliant mind working to connect the seemingly contradictory events that had taken place over the last few days.

"Perhaps he manipulated the boy's memories. Mephisto has been known to tamper with the minds of mortals before. I remember hearing about that German duke he conned into giving him his property by convincing him he was his long lost son. He is still using that land as the global headquarters for his Magic Association."

"True, but would he really tamper with Romulus' mind, if I recall correctly his meddling with that German duke caused the man to develop a brain tumor from the adverse reactions of demonic magic interacting with his brain."

"That was more than four hundred years ago, his technique would surely have improved."

"But would he risk the boy's health in the event that is hasn't?"

"Eight centuries ago he manipulated the mind of a seventy two year old human duke. Romulus' young mind is far more adaptable and wouldn't be effected by his demonic power in a negative way, and Mephisto is more than capable of crafting false memories to trick even the most observent beings."

"That's stupid." Serafall Leviathan's childish voice rose over other maou's.

"What?"

"You're just seeing things Aju-chan. I think that you just want someone to play with since you can't find anyone else good enough at politics give you a challenge. I'm going to go get him, then I'm going to bring him home and give him to Sona. Once I get him to live with us we can get him to become one of Sona's peerage members once she gets her evil pieces. She'll be thrilled to have a Titanius rook."

"NO!" Yelled everyone in the room. Breaking the mature and serious tone of the meeting.

"First of all Serafall." Said Sirzechs. "We all agreed that none of us could take him in currently. Secondly if we could, I would get to have him and I would give him to Rias. She will need a good piece to start off with once she gets her set and Romulus will make a fine addition to her family."

"He goes to Sona. Her big sis needs to give her a good present."

"No, Rias. She needs a good rook."

"Sona."

"Rias."

"Sona."

"Rias."

"SONA!"

"RIAS!"

"Diodora."

"What?" Both of the maous turned their heads to the green-haired devil.

"He goes to Diodora. He'll get his pieces sooner than either of your sisters and we need him bound to us as soon as possible."

"Why do you get him?" Complained Serafall. "I saw him first."

"Yes Ajuka." Agreed Sirzechs. "You shouldn't get him... But neither should you Serafall, I get to take him and give him to Rias and she'll-"

"Dibs." Interjected Ajuka, holding up one of his fingers, to emphasize his point.

"What?"

"I just called dibs. Therefore I get him."

"Damn."

"Damn!"

Both of the Maous sat down in a huff, forgetting about the international dibs protocol for a minute, just long enough for Ajuka to steal the dibs out from under them.

"Are you actually going to take him?"

All three seemed to jump in surprise as they turned to Falbium Asmodeus and Grayfia Lucifage who both looked at the bickering leaders with sweat drops.

"Ahahaha..." Sirzechs chuckled uneasily as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Of course not." Said Ajuka. "I just wanted to make sure neither of these two did anything stupid for their sisters."

Serafall pouted but didn't retort, after all everyone knew that even as a six year old Sona had Serafall wrapped around her finger and vice versa. Both sisters would do anything for the other.

Sirzechs also stayed silent, all of them knew that he was very protective of his only younger sister.

"Either way. No I don't think I am imagining thing. Mephisto has outlasted empires, both natural and supernatural, one doesn't do that without more than a few hidden cards. I just assume based on what I saw that he was playing one."

"Very well Ajuka. We will remain vigilant, however we no longer have any reason to keep tabs in the boy officially, we just have to hope that Mephisto doesn't discover the few spies we managed to bury in his home."

* * *

Romulus woke with a splitting headache, his eyes stung and his brain pounded. As a six year old even mild head pains were new and unpleasant experiences, which is why instead of getting up and looking for a way to relieve the pain Romulus chose instead to roll over and cover his head with the pillow he had under his head.

"I see that you are awake." The voice was soft but still, just hearing the softest of syllables caused the young boy's temples to throb with biting pain. "I have something for that you know."

Romulus looked out of his pillow, only to flinch away from the harsh light of what could only be mid morning. In the old devil's hands was a glass of water and two little pink tablets.

"Water and aspirin. Ironically no supernatural involvement in creating this combination, despite with the amount of 'miracles' it's delivered."

Romulus grabbed the small pink chewable and devoured it before gulping down the water in just a few seconds. It took a little while but his headache began to fade away.

"Ugh. Mr. Mephisto, what happened? All I remember is you putting your hand on my head and then nothing." His eyes widened as he remembered just who he had met. "Did it work? Did we trick her? Is she here?"

Mephisto could not help but smirk slightly at the young boy. He had not seen a young devil so full of energy since Ajuka Beelzebub (Formally Astaroth) had come to study the art of magical mathamatics from him.

"All is well boy, the memory alterations I made were more than sufficient to fool Grayfia, and you performed brilliantly. Unfortunately to undo the alterations I had to erase the memories of however much time you spent with them. Since then you have been sleeping."

"How long was I sleeping?"

"Just the night, it has been almost ten hours since Tannin and I had you taken to your rooms."

"Oh... okay. Mr Mephisto..."

"Yes child?"

"Tannin said you would teach me magic... are you really going to teach me?"

"I am Romulus. Normally I would have you enrolled with a beginners class for magic but considering your family and circumstances I believe that you need to be placed on an accelerated personalized program. You will have magic and physical training with Tannin in the mornings and I will take over and teach you new magic in the afternoons."

Free from his former head pain and having forgotten about his meeting with the 'Strongest Queen' Romulus was now a jumping bean, hopping up and down excitedly.

"Can I learn magic now? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?"

"I am sorry Romulus but for now you must depart with Tannin for your physical training." The door to the room opened and in walked the dragon, as if just the mention of training had summoned him.

"Come on kid we have to get you to work. Today you're going to be blocking another one of my strikes, but this time twice as strong." The dragon grinned at Romulus, showing off rows of dagger like teeth that did nothing to comfort the boy's growing sense of fear at training with his new mentor.

The moment that training with Tannin was mentioned Mephisto felt a pair of small arms wrap around his waist.

"Please... please save me."

Chuckling Mephisto removed the boy's arms from his middle and pushed him over to the dragon.

"Do not worry Romulus, Tannin was only joking, go with him and remember, you will have the opportunity to use your wings."

At the mention of his wings Romulus' eyes widened and brightened before he raced out of the room, his two wings of light and metal emerging and transitioning him from running down the hall to flying. As he took off he rocketed through the corridors as a veritable comet of light before he made a sharp turn around a corner and out of sight.

Tannin looked out of room, his eyes following the boy until he disappeared.

"Ha. The boy does seem happy to use them now. Though considering how they look I'll be surprised if he spends a waking moment without them out."

"Of course he is. I remember when I first learned to fly. It was all I could talk about for weeks."

"A young you... I don't think I can picture it. I always just assumed you schemed a way out of youth and was just born old."

"Very funny old friend. But I think if Romulus is not taken care of he will draw some unneeded attention. You know how inquisitive magicians are."

"Of course, of course, They learned curiosity from the best."

The two old friends shared a long laugh before drifting into a comfortable silence.

"Well, time to make sure the hatchling doesn't fly into anything."

Tannin lumbered out of the room and down the hall, his massive footsteps sounding loudly down the echoing hallways.

* * *

The dragon king and his young student didn't return until late in the afternoon; the dragon standing in pique form, not a scratch on his scaled skin. Meanwhile his new student was covered in bruises and cuts with another set of bandages wrapped around his hands. Despite his sorry state and all of his injuries the young boy had a smile so bright it could rival the sun. In his hands was what looked like a large dark scale.

At the gates of the castle Mephisto was there to greet the two. At the same time all around them magicians of various ages and appearances watched in awe and fascination as the two made their way into the head of the magician association's castle.

"I assume that training was fruitful." Mephisto greeted them, gazing at Romulus' happy grin.

"Yeah! I managed to stop Tannin on my fifteenth try, and I punched the bull-oak tree a thousand times and I only cried afterwards. Tannin gave me a scale from his tail. He said I could make it into cool armor or a new shield. Can I do it now, Please"

"Hold on boy, first you must learn how to blacksmith, once you can work iron and steel then you will learn to manipulate the more magical metals, only then will you be able to work dragon scales into armor or weaponry. For now, focus on your lessons with Mephisto."

The group of three rounded a corner, pushed open a set of doors, and were immediately greeted to the sight of a library larger than any Romulus had ever seen.

"Come Romulus, we will begin your lessons here."

Mephisto directed the boy to sit at a table in the center of the massive room, while Tannin reached and retrieved one of the many books from the shelves and moving to an enormous chair where he sat and peered into the tome's contents.

Mephisto ushered Romulus to a large table with dozens of scrolls spread out over the table. Romulus recognized some of them as scrolls his father had shown him during his first six months training in his powers but most were completely foreign to him. As he scanned the assembled reading material he came to something propped up against the far side of the table.

"Is that my shield?"

"Indeed Romulus, Tannin gave it to me after your first day with us. I've been studying it since."

"It's no joke Mephisto." Tannin spoke up from his place off to the side. "I saw that thing repel and throw back Mizuchi and Barren. Neither of them are weak by any means."

"Well you'll be glad to know I know what the shield is made of; one of Jörmungandr's scales."

"Jörmungandr? That lazy little snake? No wonder that thing was so strong."

"Who?" The two old beings turned their attention to Romulus, who from the looks he was giving them had no idea what they were discussing.

"My apologies Romulus, Jörmungandr is one of the dragon kings and the largest dragon in the world. It appears that one of your ancestors managed to acquire a scale of his through some means and forged a shield from it. Much like you were planning to do with Tannin's scale."

"Oh, cool. So I can make one to match?"

"Perhaps with time and practice. But for now let us concentrate on your magic lesson."

"Ok Mr Mephisto. Are we starting now?"

"Yes we will start now. First and foremost; we will have to test the nature of your magic. The Titanius clan was unique in that while they specialised in defensive magic, they could excel in any form of it. Subdivisions of your clan were made for each form of defense."

The old devil placed a large crystal orb in front of Romulus before continuing on with his explanation.

"The scrolls your father gave you were incredibly detailed in the ways of how your clan worked out their magical affinity. Place your hands on the crystal."

The young boy did so.

"What now?"

"Pour you demonic energy into it, the crystal will focus it into a shape, color, and affinity. We will be able to understand your talents from it."

He obeyed, allowing his small but sufficient reserves to pour into the crystal. At first nothing happened; the orb only seemed to glow with purple light before it dimmed. But soon something changed within the transparent expanse. Ribbons of violet light leaked into the center of the ball, collecting and condensing until in the center of the object there was... a circle.

Perhaps circle was not the best way to describe it, the energy collected in the center was constantly shifting, constantly changing shape, settling into an orb or egg shape for some time before moving, expanding and contracting into a thousand different forms.

Mephisto looked into the orb, while flipping through a book that Romulus recognized as the ancient record book of his clan.

"It appears that your magic power has not settled into a coherent form. That is impossible, the settling of magic occurs in devils within a week of their birth in order to stabilize their growth and according to your parent's research, the nature of your capabilities are settled with them. This makes no sense, its almost as if... as if."

"Mr. Mephisto?" Asked Romulus, concerned with why the man had suddenly stopped and looked as if he was contemplating the materials needed to destroy the world.

"Mephisto?" Tannin had also come to see what had his king so stumped.

"OH Helen Titanius you magnificent genius!" The man's voice was excited, full of near child-like joy.

"I see it now. Tannin, the reason she implanted the second king piece, the reason Romulus' power has not settled into a definable form. She was using her own magic to revert his power back to its primal state. The king piece releases energy to destabilize his power. Now we can settle it in any way we choose."

"What does that even mean?"

"For most beings, our natural abilities and affinities with magic are decided in our first week of life by the stimulus we undergo. Now that Romulus' demonic energies have been reverted back to their base state we can place him under the correct stimuli to let him achieve whatever form of magic we wish, and luckily for us we have the ultimate guide to Titanius magic right at our fingertips."

Mephisto patted the chair next to him.

"Come, sit, we will begin by looking over the various different forms that your family has discovered over the years. Afterwards we can determine which would be most suited to you."

Most of what was just said went so far over Romulus' head he couldn't even begin to understand what Mephisto was talking about, however, he knew that he was going to learn new magic, and that alone was more than enough to get him to run up to the table and plant himself into the designated seat. The two devils began to flip through the Titanius clan's index of auras™.

"What's that one?"

"The... lightning form, Raijin characteristic."

"What 's it do?"

"'A heavy lightning form that is most used against storm elemental enemies. Weak against magics like Water and ice magics for their ability to overwhelm defensive spells with large liquid attacks that can harm the defender with their own spells.' A good form but ineffective against members of clans such as the Sitri."

"And that one?"

"Dark form, Erberus characteristic. 'Mainly used to create defensive fields around the user to hide from and evade attacks. Weaknesses are light and lightning based attacks for their ability to dispel the darkness and expose the defender.' Good against some enemies but considering the main enemies of Devils are angels and fallen, both of whom are able to use light based attacks, it would be ineffective."

"What about that one?"

"Fire form, Surya characteristic. 'A form that uses the overwhelming power of the sun to its fullest potential, The wielder of this form had strong resistance to the power of the holy light and fire based attacks, often absorbing them to increase their own power but suffers great weakness to darkness, loosing power quickly within it.'"

"That one sounds good. I know Surya, dad read me the story of Karna."

"Karna's story is a favourite of the Titanius clan but still most of the underworld resides in the darkness, and devils are adept in using darkness magic regardless of their personal or clan affinities."

"Ok... What's that one."

"Chaos form, Chimera characteristic. 'A form that focuses on adaptability over power the chaos form chimera characteristic is a slow but powerful form, allowing the user to attune themselves with four distinct energies to an above average extent; Magic, Chakra, Touki and Heavenly power.

"Oh, that one, I want to learn that one!"

"Patience Romulus." Said Mephisto. "I haven't finished. 'However utilizing the different powers places a large strain on the body of the practitioner, Additionally the usage of counter-spells reduced the speed of casting, making progress slow for most in order to prevent the breakdown and destruction of the body from overusing the chaotic energies.' Now knowing that, are you sure that you wish to continue?"

"What kind of energies are Chakra and Touki? Are they strong?"

"They are, usually they are practiced by senjutsu students, primarily in the eastern areas as the western mythologies rely more on magic power. Son Wukong is a good example of a senjutsu master who uses chakra and touki."

Romulus looked up blankly at him.

"Who?"

"Perhaps you know him by a different name. Does Son Goku mean anything?"

"Oh you mean like Dragon Ball? I love Son Goku, but I like Gohan a little more! Does that mean I can blow up planets? Can I fight aliens like Freeza?" The young devil was jumping up and down with excitement at the thought of firing a Kamehameha.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Deafening laughter shattered the library's quiet atmosphere as Tannin nearly doubled over, choking on air as he gasped for breath. Mephisto just shook his head with a smile and place a hand on Romulus' should to get the boy to calm

"Not that Son Goku Romulus. I was referring to the monkey king. Have you every heard of 'Journey to the West'?"

"Oh isn't that the one with the monkey king under the mountain. I like that one. Dad used to read it to me before bed. Is that his name? Dad always just called him the monkey king."

"That is the one. Son Wukong was born from stone and rose to become equal to the gods, and he was a skilled practitioner of senjutsu, chakra and touki."

"Cool. That sounds really awesome. I want that one. It sounds really strong, and I think Chimeras look really cool. I wanted one as a pet but mommy and daddy wouldn't let me have one. They said the snake tail might bite me."

"That is very... interesting Romulus... Anyway, now that you have selected a nature, as you sure that you do not wish to look through again?"

"Yes."

"Very well, I will need you to undergo the correct stimuli in order for you to obtain the Chaos form. I am sorry for this Romulus, but to set your magic I believe that the only reliable way to achieve it will be to expose you to the terror and confusion of the most chaotic time of your life."

Suddenly this form didn't sound as appealing to the boy, he knew what Mephisto was talking about, young though he was. He didn't want to go back to that time, he didn't want to see his family and friends die, and he definitely didn't want to have to watch as his parents were killed in front of him again.

"Are you ready? If you wish we can spend more time and find another."

"No, Mr Mephisto. We looked through the entire book and we only found a few that were even close to this strong. I want to be strong. For my mom, for my dad, for my family, for my house. I want to make sure that I'm strong enough to make sure house Titanius won't be gone when I am."

"That is admirable, then we shall begin."

* * *

A groan erupted from a laying form. Romulus rose from his place on his new bed, rubbing his head with his eyes screwed shut to block out the light.

"Ah, you are awake."

The voice was calm but to Romulus it was far too loud for comfort.

"W-wha?"

"You have been unconscious for nearly two weeks. It seems the mental strain of reliving that night so soon was greater than we could have expected."

Suddenly it all came back, waking up back in the inferno, running through the halls in the arms of his mother. All of that death and destruction he had been too scared to notice then had been clear and perfectly preserved as he was able to take it all in. The scattered bodies that littered the corridors; adults, teen, children and even infants laid strewn on the floors, blood splattered on the walls and ceilings. The sounds of battle were all too plain. Bodies hitting the floor, metal clashing against metal and magic spells colliding were louder than he remembered.

Finally the visions and sounds were ended as the form of his mother dragged him through the library gates, waving her hands as a thick shield spell was placed over the door.

The events continued, dragging the young boy through the trauma of losing everything all over again. The view of Sirzechs speaking to his father before he killed him and his wife seemed even more terrifying to the young boy because he now knew that as much as he wanted to stop it he would be forced once again to sit by and be useless.

"I don't want to do that ever again..." He muttered under his breath.

"You will not have to, the setting of your nature into the Chaos form was successful within the first week of your rest."

Does that mean it's over?"

"Yes, it is. Now it is time for you to learn to control your new power. Come, you are seventeen days behind on your training with Tannin."

* * *

And there we go. For those of you wondering Each characteristic has an origin in mythology.

Erberus characteristic: The primordial being of darkness, so a power focused on using darkness was obvious.

Raijin characteristic: The god of Thunder in Japanese mythology.

Surya characteristic: God of the sun in hindu mythology

Chimera characteristic: A little more complex; the bodies of a lion, goat and snake (With dragon sometimes mixed in possibly due to confusion with the manticore) Thus the power to use chakra and touki, the essences of life. Born from Typhon and Echidna, the father and mother of all monsters according to greek mythology, thus the heavenly power. And demonic because of Romulus' demonic nature.

The wing change was due to the destabilising of Romulus' demonic power, reverting the wings into a form of pure energy. Once settled into the chimera characteristic the chaotic energies accentuated the change and carried it over to become a hereditary trait, similar to the phenex wings being because of their relations to the legendary phoenix.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few months went by faster once the pressure of discovery lessened. Romulus spent his days developing a routine; wake up each morning and eat alongside Tannin, Mephisto and the occasional guest, leave with Tannin for physical training and if he did well, receive a prize in the form of a scale for his collection. After that it was lunch back at the castle and then magical training with Mephisto, interrupted only by dinner, until late at night before going to bed. The routine had only changed when Romulus had gained another form of training. Seeking to use the scales he had been accumulating from his practices with his master he began an apprenticeship under the local magical blacksmith, adding up to six hours more work to his day. Soon enough an entire five months had passed since the boy's arrival in the wake of great tragedy and already he showed massive improvement.

Romulus woke up, just as he did every morning, at seven a.m on the dot and proceeded to dress. He pulled up his pants and slipped on a bright green t-shirt before pulling on two sweat bands that Tannin gave him. He flew down the long halls of the castle as he did everyday in order to increase his flight capabilities, smiling as the servants deftly moved out of his way as he became a streak of violet light. The dining room was empty save for Mephisto, who was calmly sipping his morning coffee and reading what looked like a mortal newspaper, and Tannin, who had shrunk his size so that he could sit and eat at the table.

Romulus himself pulled out his normal chair and thanked the servants as they placed his breakfast, toast, eggs and orange juice, in front of him. The entire affair was quiet, with only the soft sounds of chewing, drinking or the pitter patter of the servants' feet to disturb the perfect calm.

Mephisto, breaking normal proceeding, was the first one to break their comfortable silence, turning to his charge.

"Romulus, over the last five months you have made exceptional progress in all of your studies, however I've come to notice that you have forgone forming social bonds, even with the children that join you in your blacksmithing classes."

"I don't like those kids Mr. Mephisto." Said Romulus, looking down at his plate. "None of them like me because I'm better than them at the blacksmithing. The teacher says that I'm better than all the others and that I might move up a class."

"Romulus, I understand that making friends is hard, but you have to try not to isolate yourself."

"Give the kid a break Mephisto." Tannin turned to the two. "It's only been five months, the kid lost everything he had, besides, I remember when Sirzechs and Ajuka were that young and they didn't have friends amongst their age groups either, Serafall was more than ten years older than them and they only became friends because no one else tolerated her fixation with magical girls, even back before anyone knew what they were."

"See Mr. Mephisto, Tannin says it's ok."

"Romulus, what Tannin said is accurate but you have to understand, Sirzechs and Ajuka had each other, they had a rival to ground them and make sure that they didn't become detached. You on the other hand... I haven't seen you even try to interact or make friends with others. That is why I've talked with one of my associates. He will be dropping off one of his charges. Tannin, the visitor will be joining you and Romulus for physical training."

"Mephisto you can't be serious. The kid's been getting better and better over the last few months. The last thing we need is some rookie coming in. Even if you think he can help the kid make friends."

"Mr. Tannin's right Mr. Mephisto, I don't need someone to come and mess up my training. I need to get stronger so I can stand up to the Maous."

"I didn't say he was here to help you make friends Romulus. He's here to help you find a rival."

The conversation halted when a black teleportation circle emerged in the middle of the room. Two figures could be seen covered in shadow from the light of the magic circle.

"I told you Azazel, I don't need to make any stupid friends. Let me get back to my training and leave me alone."

"Not today Vali. Besides you could use some friends, it might get you to lighten up some."

"Shut up old man."

The light cleared, revealing to forms of a relatively tall man with black hair and blonde hair and a young boy with silver hair. The man was dressed in a mulberry overcoat tightly fastened with black belts around his waist, torso and arms as well as having grey business pants and maroon shoes. The boy was dressed for exercise, with a blue training shirt, running shorts, sweatbands around his wrists and forehead and standard sports shoes.

"Ah Azazel." Mephisto addressed the man with a tone of pleasant familiarity. "Thank you for coming."

"No problem 'Phisto I needed an excuse to get Vali here to stop beating on my underlings." Azazel replied, ruffling the boy's hair as he looked over the other occupants.

"It's not my fault none of them put up a good fight." The silver haired boy, who Romulus assumed was names Vali, said as he crossed his arms over his chest, clearly frustrated.

Mephisto and Azazel chuckled. "Well fear not young man, I'm sure Romulus will prove a worthy adversary for you to train with." Assured the Devil. "Tannin if you would.. be...so kind. Tannin what are you doing?"

The dragon was sniffing the air and staring intently at Vali, his eyes narrowed.

"I know that smell... Albion, Albion you heap of dragon dung come out, you can't hide yourself from me."

' _Huh, I wasn't trying to old friend. It's good to see you Tannin.'_

"Same to you Vanishing dragon. Is this kid your new host?"

 _'Yes he is, and a fine one at that, already he has unlocked my powers, and he is getting close to unlocking the Scale Mail.'_

"Huh, sounds like a good host, maybe the best I've heard of yet, but my student'll rip right through him."

 _'I think not, Vali will triumph.'_

"Well then, I guess we'll see who's the better teacher eh?"

"Hey Albion, you know this guy?" Vali interrupted the two dragons.

' _Yes Partner, Tannin was an old friend of mine before the red one and I were sealed.'_

"Is he strong."

 _'He is, he was a member of the dragon kings, five of the strongest dragons outside of the red one, Ophis, Great Red and I.'_

"Hey you! I want to fight you!" Vali pointed a finger at Tannin. The dragon king looked at Vali, considering him with his gaze, only to burst into laughter. He wasn't the only one either, Azazel, Romulus, Albion and even Mephisto chuckled at Vali's presumptiveness.

"You're funny kid, but don't get a big head, I might not be as strong as that pompous reptile who's gear you have but you're a far cry from him and even now I could squash you like a bug with one foot."

' _Vali now is not the time to challenge one such as Tannin, your desire to fight strong opponents must be tempered with realism young one or it will lead you to your doom. Not all who you challenge will be as lenient as my old friend.'_

"Well." Azazel made his voice known. "I'd better be off, there's some stuff I have to deal with. Vali, be nice and don't destroy anything, I'll be back in the evening, you know... probably."

The Grigori leader vanished in a flash of light before Vali could even protest.

"Hey old man! You can't just leave me here, what am I supposed to do?"

"You'll train."

Vali looked over at Romulus.

"What?"

"You"ll train with us. Tannin and I are going to the bull oak woods for my training, if you want you can come too."

"I guess that sounds ok. But don't slow me down." Vali turned his head from the young devil.

"What!? I won't slow anyone down, if anything, I'll have to stop so you can keep up!"

"What was that!?"

"You heard me!"

Mephisto and Tannin looked at the two squabbling boys, so caught up in their argument that they were now wrestling on the floor.

"Mephisto." Said Tannin.

"Yes?"

"I think you might've had a point about the whole rival thing."

"I'm glad you see things my way."

* * *

The training had gone surprisingly well all things considered, since the very beginning both boys had been trying to prove themselves superior to the other in one form or another, often leading to injuries in the party that was lacking, not that either complained for fear of looking inferior or weak. Tannin and Albion had had to work together to stop Vali after his hands began to bleed from punching the Bull Oak trees. The boy's pride had taken quite a hit seeing Romulus continue on for three thousand strikes compared to his own meager fifty. Likewise Tannin had forced Romulus to rest after Vali had outclassed him in aerial combat, sending the Titanius heir crashing to the ground multiple times.

However it was their final competition was by far the most brutal. the two were sparring amongst the trees, Vali making use of his speed to quickly move around, trying to find a way past Romulus' iron defense. Meanwhile Romulus was moving far less, instead keeping up a barrier so that Vali couldn't get to him and drain his power with the divine dividing. Their stalemate had lasted for nearly an hour, both steadily slowing down as their energy was expended with powerful attacks and sturdy defense. Vali was moving much slower, his energy drained to the point where he wouldn't be able to activate his gear even if he managed to hit his foe, at the same time Romulus' barriers were flickering, lasting for much less time and were lacking in strength. Tannin could tell that soon they would be forced into plain hand to hand combat.

Vali blasted forward, using a direct path and placing all of his remaining power into his frontal attack. Romulus turned to face his foe, forcing the last remnants of his magic into a shield to defend against Vali. The two forces clashed, and for a moment it seemed like an unstoppable force had met an immovable object. However in the end Vali was not unstoppable and Romulus was not immovable, Vali's punch shattered the barrier, following through on a direct path to Romulus. Likewise the shield had drained Vali of most of his power and Romulus moved forward with his own punch.

The two met in the middle, Vali's fist slamming into Romulus' face, and Romulus' punch meeting Vali's cheek with equal force. Their bodies collided and the two boys fell to the ground, equally exhausted.

"I...huh...win..." Both of them muttered out, panting in exhaustion.

' _Well Tannin, it seems Vali and the boy are most evenly matched.'_ Thought out Albion from within his gear.

"Yep, they've gone and beaten each other to the point where they can't even move."

Away from where the dragon king and heavenly dragon were talking Romulus and Vali laid on their backs, their breaths heavy, looking up at the sky.

"You... punch... good." Wheezed out Romulus, his chest heaving as he took in great gasps of air.

"So... do... you." Vali returned, lying with his head by Romulus' feet and his feet by the other boy's head.

"Wanna go again?" Asked Romulus.

"I could do this all day." Panted Vali

"Then get up."

"Shut up."

"Ah...hahaha." the two boys began to chuckle, their laughs tires and weak but growing stronger. They laid on the ground staring up at the sky, laughing loudly and incessantly.

"Well it looks like you two had a good fight." Tannin's booming voice held a significant tone of amusement.

"I won Mr. Tannin." Said Romulus, trying and failing to get up without support.

"He didn't, I won, tell them Albion." Vali protested.

' _You both fought well.'_ Said the dragon. _'You two have an equal amount of power and ability. Perhaps in the future you will make a powerful team.'_

The two boys looked over at each other, their faces morphing into smiles. Tannin picked both of them up, throwing them both over his shoulder.

"Time to go back. Romulus you have magic and blacksmithing training soon and we need one of the healers to get you in moving condition." He then turned to Vali.

"As for you, Azazel will be back soon, you're going to need some rest and attention from the healers if you're going to be moving at all."

Both boys nodded from their position as the three set off towards Mephisto's castle.

* * *

As it turned out neither of them really needed much care, just a quick heal for some bruising and a lot of energy replenishers, by the time Azazel came for Vali the young dragon emperor and Romulus were sitting on a couch, playing a game.

Azazel was shocked to see Vali just sitting down and playing with someone else, even though he had quite a sour look on his face and looking quickly at the screen Azazel could see he was losing badly, since Vali usually spent all of his time training or fighting.

"Well this is new."

The two boys paused from their game to stare at the newly arrived fallen angel.

"Hey old man." Said Vali, getting up with a slight wince as he rotated his arm. "You took your sweet time coming back."

"Well I wanted to have some peace and quiet with my research before you came back and gave me a headache."

"Well its good that these two were able to strike up a rivalry in just one afternoon." Tannin interrupted as he walked into the room.

"Now, Romulus you have magic lessons with Mephisto, and you need to finish the fifth level spells if you are going to apply for the advanced magus aptitude test in the new year."

"Ok Mr. Tannin, is Mr. Mephisto in the library or the spell-caster grounds?"

"Spell grounds."

"OK bye. See you later Vali."

"See you."

Romulus jumped up, unleashing his violet wings before blasting out the door in a rush of air.

"Are you sure you won't let me run some experiments on him, those wings are incredible."

"Mephisto made it quite clear that you could approach him personally."

"Maybe next time. Come on Vali, it's time to go home."

"Fine. But I need to come back next week. Romulus and I have a rematch."

"... Wow, did you give him a brain transplant?"

"No, just some good competition."

* * *

Romulus flew through the halls, racing down the halls to the spell-caster grounds. The grounds themselves were an area blocked off from the rest of the castle. Inside was an automated system of spell firing mechanisms that allowed a person to test their casting speed, defensive power and countering ability. The room was practically a heaven for a Titanius member hoping to improve their skills and for Romulus it was not exception. Once Mephisto had deemed Romulus advanced enough with his spells most of their training sessions were held on the grounds, they only really used the library to study spells when Romulus had perfected his previous set, Mephisto had made it a priority to make sure that Romulus practiced to perfection before advancing to temper his impatience. After all, Romulus was planning to go against the Maous, the four strongest beings in the underworld, it would not do well to advance without proper caution.

The young boy entered into the room, hoping and expecting to find his teacher setting the various levels of the machines so that he could practice his latest set of spells. He was surprise, however, to find that his master was not alone; standing off to the side was a group of people. Most of them were teenagers, probably along the ages of fifteen to sixteen, with a few middle-aged adults standing around, monitoring things with Mephisto and occasionally pointing at the final member of the group.

She was neither a teen or an adult, standing slightly off from the group but still close enough to be considered a part of it was a girl around his age. She had pale blonde hair that fell in long wavy curls past her shoulders to her mid-back. Pale white skin that seemed to glow in the light and vivid green eyes that scanned the whole room, coming to rest on him and return his stare. She was beautiful and although he was just a child himself Romulus felt his cheeks light up.

' _She's pretty.'_

The thought played faster through his mind than he could track and was gone as his name was called by Mephisto.

"What is it Mr. Mephisto. Why are they here?" Pointing to the group that looked indignant at his blunt words and pointing.

"They are an advanced magic class Romulus, they are having a surprise exam on spell countering and need the grounds."

"Can't you tell them to leave Mr. Mephisto, we used the grounds first."

"Now Romulus, that is not how things work, they booked the grounds for the exam and I will not override a pre-approved test just because you do not want to put off training. Just wait for them to finish."

Romulus pouted as he looked for an open seat, as he walked through the class he saw as the first student moved to the center of the ring. The spell shooters, an advanced training mechanism that remotely fired spells from a device that looked like a modified mounted machine gun, whirled to life, barrels moving steadily faster before they began to fire.

The student responded to the incoming attacks by casting a protective shield. The dome of energy formed around him, blocking and dissipating the various spells that slammed against it.

On the sidelines Romulus looked on bored at the display, the magician performing was taking no measure to actively counter the attacks, instead choosing to simply reinforce his defense until the spells simply didn't have the power to pierce it. Romulus could understand that approach, against a sufficiently powerful force, most likely more powerful than one's self, it was a sound strategy, forgo tailoring defensed to specific types of attacks and simply focus on surviving the barrage. However the spells were more than weak enough for any competent magician to tailor their shield to actively counter the spells coming in, conserving energy at the cost of deeper concentration. He himself was practicing an advanced countering spell meant to deal with multiple opponents firing different spells from multiple rotating angles.

Any more criticism for the older boy was cut short by a scoff coming from his immediate right. Turning to see who shared his view of the student's method he was greeted with the green eyes and long blonde hair of the same girls who had drawn his eyes before. Seeing her so close brought a blush to his face, his eyes widening as he began to fidget uncomfortably before looking down and away from her.

"You see it too don't you." His head looked up slowly as she spoke, her eyes never leaving his red face, even as she gained a twinge of red at his proximity

"W-what do you mean?" His voice came out as a stammer, his eyes darting back and forth, trying to avoid her gaze.

"He isn't doing it right, he's just defending, not countering, the whole point of this exam is to show that you can counter spells."

Romulus looked at her with widened eyes.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm a part of the class, we were all told what this test is about."

"Aren't you a little young to be in an advanced class?"

"Yeah, aren't you a little young to be training with Lord Mephisto?"

"I guess but I'm working on a special program."

"Me too, that's why I'm here, they won't advance me further because of my age, they don't understand that I get all of this already."

"That's really cool, I didn't know people could move so far ahead."

"They told me I'm special, I have something called a Sacred Gear, it makes me better at magic and stuff."

"Wow, I heard about those, they're supposed to be really powerful."

"Yeah, they said mine's a strong one, Innovate Gear or something, the library doesn't have an entry on it."

"That's cool."

"Yeah..."

"I'm Romulus."

"I know, I heard Lord Mephisto call you."

"...What's your name."

"...Adrianna."

"Hi Adrianna."

"Hi Romulus."

"...Wanna be friends?"

"Why?"

"Mr Mephisto says I need to make more friends, but all the other kids are so... stupid."

Adrianna looked at him, her eyes wide, before it broke into a grin.

"I know, they think learning to float a feather is so cool..."

"But it's not, I know, and all they think about is shooting giant lasers and flying around."

"They're such kids."

"Hey, we're kids too."

"Yeah but we're different."

"I guess... so since we're both different, you wanna be friends?"

"...Sure, but only if you don't give me cooties."

"You're a girl, you'll give me cooties."

"Will not."

"Will so."

"Will not."

"Will so."

"Will not."

"Miss Adrianna Lorelei."

"Yes Ms. Sutherland."

"Mr. Adrian has finished his exam, if you would be so kind as to stop your distracting chatter and move to the center of the ring."

Adrianna stood up from her seat and began to walk, all the while the other class members looked at her with resentment and smug amusement.

"Hold on one second."

Mephisto Pheles strode to the center of the teachers as all of them turning to look at the leader of their association.

"I think did promise Romulus practice on the grounds, I would very much appreciate it if he could perform next."

The teachers shared looked between themselves, it was a violation of protocol and could contaminate the test but could they actively reject the wishes of their leader.

"It's quite unconventional Lord Mephisto, we don't want to contaminate the conditions of the test."

"Nonsense, Romulus will finish quickly, won't you?"

"Um, of course Mr Mephisto, but is it really ok?"

"Of course, its not a problem is it?" The old devil turned to the teachers, his eyes carrying a look that brokered no argument from the teachers, cowing them into giving hesitant and demure nods. Mephisto smiled as he saw them reluctantly agree.

"Wonderful, Romulus, take your place if you would." Romulus moved to the center of the room, looking apologetically at Adrianna as she walked back to her seat, the faces of her classmates turning to sneers as she passed. Turning to his teacher he saw a flash of something in he eyes, diabolical planning and triumph, as if the right pieces had moved into place just in time for him to win whatever game he was playing.

"Ready?"

"I guess."

Romulus cast his spell, a domed shield with colors spanning the rainbow making it up. The colors pulsed and moved, growing and shrinking in size. Romulus surveyed the room, only to meet the piercing gaze of Adrianna, she was staring intently at him. No, he realized, not him, his shield. Her eyes studied every inch of it, as if committing each part of it to memory. Her eyes held a look of wonder and fascination that intrigued Romulus and suddenly he felt a need, a need to do his best, better than he had ever done before. To show her what he was capable of.

The spell shooters whirled up, coming to life again as he tore his attention from his new friend and odd interest. Each turret began to fire a different type of spell, varying in elements and intensities. The colors of his shield immediately ceased their gentle, almost lazy motions and snapped into connecting shapes, moving along each other to intercept certain spell types.

Off to the side the student looked on in amazement as the machines continued firing. Mephisto looked on with a smirk as he observed the gathered student.

"Add variables."

The turrets popped up, tracks appearing under them as they began moving in different directions, nearly a dozen machines firing from different tracks that swung up to perform three dimensional movements. The floor opened up, leaving the young boy on a small raised platform with turrets and spells flying from every direction.

Romulus stood with deep concentration etched into his face, his young and full features pulled and creased as if trying to work out a frustrating problem. Even so he remained calm and composed as a series of spells fired at his back. The shield maintained its form even under the assault the correct countermeasures to those certain spells blocking just in time.

"That's enough Romulus, you can stop."

The spell shooters came to a stop, their barrels slowing to a stop as steam and magical exhaust leaked from the machines into the air, a sign of their thorough usage.

"Excellent Romulus, a job well done. Please take a seat and wait, I will be with you after the test."

The boy nodded to his teacher, once again taking his seat next to Adrianna, who was now observing him with near disturbing focus.

"W-what?"

"Nothing."

"You're looking at me funny."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Miss Lorelei, you are next I believe."

"Yes Lord Mephisto."

"Well then, come up and begin your test."

Adrianna stood once again, looking over at Romulus as if to ensure he wouldn't interrupt her again. She stood where just seconds ago he had and waited.

"Miss Lorelei, are you ready?"

"Yes sir."

"Then we will begin."

The spell shooters once again warmed up and Romulus allowed himself to observe his new friend. The turrets fired their first shots before Adrianna formed her barrier, only to dissipate harmlessly as she projected the exact same shield spell as he had.

Romulus shot up from his seat, staring with a gaping jaw and a look of shock to compliment his open mouth. To the side Mephisto let a toothy smile play across his face as he watched his pupil look at the girl who had so quickly (if somewhat crudely) copied his spell.

"W-what, h-how is she doing that?" Romulus' voice was a stammer as he watched Adrianna perform a spell he had spent nearly a week learning, performed by a girl he had just met.

"Everything I could have hoped for." Muttered Mephisto under his breath, watching as the assembled students and teachers gaped in awe at the young prodigy.

"Miss Lorelei that is enough."

The spells shooters slowed before coming to a complete stop, ending the test long before it was due, accompanied by protests by the various instructors.

"Lord Mephisto, this is highly irregular."

"We cannot just have her halt the test before it is complete."

Their protests were silenced however, by the simple waving of the devil lord's hand.

"Romulus, Miss Lorelei, please follow me."

"Ok Mr. Mephisto."

"Of course Lord Mephisto."

The two children obediently followed the older man, leaving the training grounds to the sounds of bickering teachers and complaining teenagers.

* * *

The walk with Mephisto was far more quiet than Romulus was used to. Even at his most silent Mephisto would still mutter to himself somewhat, contemplating plans and formulae or just conversing to ensure that Romulus would not become bored or lose focus, as young children were known to do.

Instead the boy was left with nothing but stoic silence from the old devil, and so in an attempt to clear the growing atmosphere of discomfort and tension he turned to the girl who had not so long ago shocked and fascinated him.

"How'd you do it?" He asked his voice thick with curiosity

"Do what?" Unlike him her voice was laced with a large amount of nervousness, her hands constantly fidgeting as if to show the depths of her concern for the Association head's sudden interest.

"Copy my spell like that, I've been learning it for a week and no one else could've learned it, it's a a family spell." At the last part of the sentence his voice grew thick with emotion. sorrow and determination shining in his downcast eyes.

"It's just something i've always been able to do. Spells are easy for me. They say that it's my sacred gear, making me better at magic but they still say I'm talented."

Her head bowed down as if expecting some sort of confrontation.

"That's cool."

Romulus looked at her, confused as to why she looked like she was about to receive punishment of scolding.

"I guess... you're not mad?"

"Why wold I be mad?"

"Most people don't like me copying their spells, they say it's cheating."

"Really, why? It's so cool you can learn spells like that."

Adrianna's shadowed eyes took on a sparkle of hope, her head tilting up just a little bit.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"...Thanks."

"For what?"

"Not being mad."

"We're friends right friends don't get mad at each other for stupid stuff."

She gave a shy smile, her eyes looking up at him from where they used to stare solidly at the ground.

"Yeah... yeah I guess you're right."

"Great."

The rest of the walk down the impossibly long hallway was spent filled with the sound of two highly advanced six year olds chattering to each other. Romulus talked greatly and with much enthusiasm about his training under Mephisto and Tannin, while Adrianna recounted her time learning about magic from professors who thought she was dumb.

The two continued on talking, so engrossed in each other that they didn't notice their chaperone stopping in front of a large set of double doors. Consequently the two walked right into Mephisto's legs, falling backwards as they crashed into the far sturdier adult.

"Ahhh. Mr Mephisto what are you... What's going on, I though we were gonna work on my spell casting."

The three stood right in front of Mephisto's personal library, and the devil lord had turned to look down at the two children as Romulus helped Adrianna up off of the floor.

"Romulus, With your recent progress in the mystic arts it is time that I chose a partner for you to study with. Vali is a good rival in the ways of combat but I believe that Ms. Lorelei will prove a more than equal companion in your magic training."

"So we get to study together?"

"Yes, the two of you will begin magic training together as well as general education."

He ushered the two into the room and sat them down at a table. Countless books began to pile up in front of them as Mephisto spoke of the various magics they would be learning together.

For Romulus the speech was somewhat tedious as he'd already heard it all before but when he turned to complain to his newest friend he saw her eyes filled with childish wonder. A large tome titled 'A guide to all known forms of Sacred Gears' landed in front of Adrianna and instantly, she pulled it against her chest.

' _She looks really pretty_.' Romulus almost didn't recognise the thought as his own but looking as his companion marvelled at the assembled knowledge being offered to her he couldn't help himself.

"Ms Lorelei." Mephisto addressed the girl.

"Yes Lord Mephisto." She answered.

"Welcome to the big leagues."

* * *

This took forever, I really didn't know how to progress this chapter without it seeming forced. I hope this was ok.


	5. Chapter 5

The normally calm and quiet Bull-oak woods shook from a violent impact. Dirt and rubble scattered as a wave of compressed air rushed through the trees, causing their branches to twist and clatter against each other.

At the center of the explosion were two people; One, a boy of around nine years old, standing at 139 centimeters with wild silver hair, Vali Lucifer had grown considerably from the time he and Romulus had first met nearly three years beforehand.

The Titanius Head himself had changed even more than the white dragon emperor, standing at an impressive 142 centimeters, nearly half a foot more than an average nine year old Romulus had shown a larger number of physical changes, his eyes, once a pale hazel color now shined a vibrant amethyst to match his shining wings, visible from his back, and his hair had shortened, now resting softly on his head. He was wearing a pair of short pants and a purple shirt to match his swaying wings. He was breathing heavily, scrapes and bruises littered his body from the long fight with his rival and friend, but he wore a satisfied smile on his face as he watched his rival's arm hang limply at his side, showing that his last attack had worked.

Vali was gritting his teeth, gaze alternating rapidly between his hanging left arm and his opponent. The last attack that had paralyzed his arm had been a feint, a weakness he had exploited in Romulus' shield had left his nerve clusters exposed, primed for his rival to attack and render half his upper body useless. That wouldn't stop him, however, prior to that day he had been ahead of Romulus by one victory, and he was determined to increase that difference through their latest weekly bout.

His hope was not to be realized at Romulus seemed to faze out of existence, forcing Vali to dive to the right as Romulus' fist slammed into the ground where he had once stood, causing another smaller explosion from the force behind the attack. The white dragon emperor skidded on the ground before angling his body and swinging to his feet inches away from a denser, near impassable, part of the forest.

Vali, made a move forward, using his legs to push off and his wings to propel him and give power to his attack, he slammed into a shield, softening the impact with his numb left arm and activated his gear.

 **"Divide!"**

Albion's announcement of his power rang through the clearing as the shield lost half of its power, transferring to the gear's host. The spell shattered, leaving the Romulus exposed at Vali swung a punch with his right arm. The attack came within inches of hitting the young devil, and only at the last moment did Vali realize his mistake, with his slowed speed and immobile left arm Romulus had the advantage in mobility and flexibility, diverting the attack and catching the arm, pushing it and Vali to the ground.

Romulus forced his knee into the small of Vali's back causing his friend to gasp out in shock and pain as he pinned the struggling smaller boy underneath him.

"Enough!" A voice resonated around them and both boys looked to the edge of the newly made crater. The dragon king Tannin stood on the ledge of the new crater looking on at the sparring boys with a critical eye.

"Romulus, you've won, now let Vali up."

Romulus was sporting a satisfied grin, slowly getting off his rival before offering his hand to his downed opponent. Vali scowled slightly at his loss but reached up to take his friend's hand, being pulled to his feet a second latter.

"Lord Tannin, I could have gotten out of that." The white dragon emperor complained even as he rubbed his back where his friend's knee had hit.

"Even if that was true, Romulus would have gotten you down again soon enough. It appears you are back to a stale-mate. Adrianna, update the board."

Off to the side Adrianna Lorelei floated, her weight supported by a set of magical circles that acted as a chair for her to lounge in. To her right was a chalk board divided into three parts, with a flick of her wrist a piece of white chalk rose into the air scratching a tally onto one of the sides, labeled 'Romulus'

"That's forty four for Romulus, forty four for Vali and sixty three ties." She called out as the chalk lowered back down and she sipped on a drink.

The young female magician had shown the least change of the course of the three years, only her height increasing and her hair becoming a slightly more vibrant shade of gold. She was wearing a green shirt and long black sports pants that ended in a pair of white sports shoes.

"Thank you Ms. Lorelei. Now the both of you, return to the healers and get yourselves fixed up, you have maybe half an hour before Azazel comes to pick Vali up from this little play date."

Both boys groaned loudly.

"Mr. Tannin don't call it a playdate, it's a training session." Vali nodded sagely alongside his friend, frustrated at the lack of respect he was given by the dragon king.

"I'll call it a playdate if I want kid now get going, Adrianna, go with them."

The two grumbled under their breath, complaining to each other about idiot dragons and stupid crows. Their wings began to glow, pushing them into the sky where they met Adrianna. Her own magical chair had transformed, becoming a single circle that showed various magical glyphs. The three flew off together to the main castle, ready to relax after a hard fought battle.

"You know it's been three years and I still get surprised by how those two act more like brothers than friends."

Tannin chuckled, turning to the new voice.

"Really Azazel, you think it's that surprising?"

"Of course, Vali's always been closed off, what happened with him and his family really did a number on him. I didn't think he'd be so open with anyone, he's even more candid with Romulus than with me."

"Talk to Mephisto about that, he'll have a better theory. Right now I have to head to the dragon apple forests, there's been some unrest between some of the eastern and western dragon factions."

"Well, have fun then Tannin, I'll see you."

"Going to check up on your dragon?"

"Nah, I'll let them have some more time to be kids. In our line of work it's not a role they'll be able to play for long."

"No, I suppose they won't."

* * *

The three children sat on a series of lounge chairs in a richly decorated room. Laying on his back, his head hanging upside down staring at his two friends Romulus was feeling bored. Training was over and the healers had managed to finish restoring him and Vali to perfect health. Said friend was also lounging on a large couch, but instead was tossing a ball up and down, entertaining himself somewhat by using his wings to catch the ball instead of his hands.

"I'm bored."

"So what?"

"So lets do something."

A snort sounded from another corner of the room. Adrianna was sitting in a reclining chair, a spellbook open and her eyes rapidly scanning the pages, with a flicker of magic shooting across her eyes like lightning appearing every so often, showing the effects of her Sacred Gear.

Seeing the spark in his friend's eye and shifting his eyes to Vali's glowing blue wings amongst his black devil wings an idea formed.

"I've got it!"

"Hm?"

Both gear wielders turned over to the young devil.

"You've got what?" Asked Adrianna, her eyes never leaving her book.

"I know what we're gonna do today."

"We've already done something today." Pointed out Vali

"I mean something else."

"Like what."

"Looking at Sacred Gears."

Both Longinus users turned to their friend, Adrianna with curiosity and Vali with intrigue mixed with a strange look of hunger.

"Why?" Asked Adrianna.

"Both of you have Sacred Gears, wouldn't it be cool to see some of the others out there. I mean Mr. Azazel's been spending so much time talking to Mephisto about them."

Vali's face scrunched up a bit, remembering sitting in on one of their discussions. He'd run out to study spells with Romulus out of boredom and had met Adrianna in the process. Not a bad day in hindsight but with the way his mentor had been obsessing with Christian God's creations he didn't really feel like spending time looking at old drawings of gears in an old book.

Seeing his friends hesitation Romulus played to the one angle that always got Vali on board with any idea.

"I bet there're some really strong ones, like the Absolute Demise or Incinerate Anthem."

Vali's expression changed, becoming once again one of intrigue, the idea appealing as knowledge of strong opponents could be useful.

Seeing his friend wavering, Romulus played his ace in the hole.

"Maybe they have one on the Boosted gear."

Vali's uncertainty gave way to a pointed look, his eyes suddenly hungry at the mention of the white dragon emperor's eternal rival. From her seat Adrianna rolled her eyes at the white haired boy, knowing that Romulus had won simply by bringing up the red dragon emperor.

"Fine, let's go." Vali got up and marched out of the room, leaving his friend to show a satisfied smirk as he cast a glance at the seated female member of their trio.

Adrianna looked from her book to Romulus, contemplating staying in the room and ignoring the two boys, but in the end her thirst for knowledge overcame her desire for peace and quiet and so with a sigh she got up and walked past her best friend, following after Vali towards Mephisto's personal library.

The hallways were sparsely populated, the occasional acolyte passing them on the way to one errand or another but for the three it was peaceful, and peace meant the time to talk.

"I still don't get why you want to look at Sacred Gears, you don't even have one." Said Adrianna, walking with he book clutched to her chest.

"But you guys do. I don't get why you don't spend all your time looking them up." Romulus shook his head as he turned around and walked backwards, looking at his two friends. "If I had one I'd want to know everything about it, and you guys have Longinuses, that makes it so much cooler. Don't you want to know all about the super awesome moves you can do."

"First of all Romulus, my gear is passive in case you hadn't noticed." Adrianna said. "And I already read everything about all of those gears, do you want me to recite it from memory?"

"No." Both boys said at the same time, smirking at each other. Adrianna was somewhat of a know it all, and given that she had a photographic memory and a sacred gear that was built for acquiring knowledge she could rattle off facts until the heat death of the universe.

"Fine." She pouted. "Be that way. See if I help you pass your written tests ever again."

Romulus' eyes widened to comical proportions. Adrianna did not make idle threats.

"No. Wait. I would love to listen to the whole dictionary if it came from you."

"That's what I thought." Adrianna leaned over Romulus' back, wapping her arms around his neck and patting his cheek.

"How are you so whipped?" Vali asked his oldest friend, He had no idea what whipped meant but Azazel had used it to describe Romulus' relationship with Adrianna a couple of times and it sounded kind of insulting.

"What does whipped mean?" He asked, turning to the girl on his back.

"I don't know, I don't think it's good though."

"Wanna ask Tannin later?"

"Sure, now be a good boy and carry me."

Romulus blushed slightly as Adrianna smiled at him sweetly.

"Oh god. This is so sick." Vali looked at the two.

* * *

"Romulus." The three children, who were crowded around a copy of 'A guide to all known forms of Sacred Gears'. The same book Adrianna had been given from Mephisto's personal library three years ago.

"Mr Mephisto. Is everything ok?"

"Of course, I just need to collect Vali, Azazel is here for him."

"Oh... ok. See you next week Vali."

"See you. Look out next week 'cause I'm gonna win."

"No way, I'll win. I won this week."

"I won last week."

"Yeah, but you lost this week."

"I'll get you back."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." The two boys good-naturedly bumped shoulders, smiling and laughing even as they traded childish insults.

"You'll have all week to work in order to gain back your lead Vali. And Romulus, you'll have several test for your defense magic classes. I believe you also have your apprentice blacksmithing exams."

"Ok. See you Vali."

"Bye Romulus, Bye Adrianna."

"Bye."

The three exchanged a quick hug and waved as Vali was escorted by Mephisto out of the library.

"Soooooo." Romulus drawled out looking nervously at Adrianna. "Can you help me study, I have a few written tests for my magic exams."

"Huh." Adrianna sighed but smiled at the young devil. "Fine."

* * *

Mephisto returned to the library room to find his charge studying vigorously under the watchful eye of his newest student. Not for the first time Mephisto praised his engineering of their meeting those three years ago. The two had become the best of friends, and with Vali included in their little group Romulus already had the basis for a powerful personal alliance and a growing list of allies in the supernatural world.

"What are you two studying?"

Adrianna and Romulus' heads snapped up, surprised by the devil's quick return "Lord Mephisto." Adrianna bowed her head. "I was just helping Romulus with some of his studying for his magic exams."

"Thank you for helping him Adrianna, but you also have class work to attend to, best be off."

"Yes my lord."

Adrianna turned to Romulus, who was scribbling answers and notes to his questions, his tongue sticking slightly out of the side of his mouth. Adrianna gave the boy a wave, which he reciprocated with one of his own once he looked up.

"See you later."

"See you."

The girl seemed to skip out of the library, her arms and hair swaying in the air as she moved. Romulus looked up from his work long enough to see her turn the corner and disappear down a different hallway.

"Are you finished staring?"

"Wha?"

Romulus' head snapped over to Mephisto, who was standing with a slight smile on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

"What do you mean Mr Mephisto, I wasn't staring."

"Of course you weren't."

"I wasn't."

"Romulus I am over seven thousand years old, I've seen and done more than most will ever believe possible. I know when a boy is staring at a girl he likes."

"Likes? Of course I like her, she's my friend, like Vali."

"I think she's a bit different than Vali Romulus. What's the phrase you kids are using... ah yes. You like-like her."

Romulus blushed. "Ew, no I don't, that's so gross."

"What's going on here?" Tannin asked as he stomped into the room.

"Nothing Mr Tannin."

"Well now I know it's something. Mephisto?"

"We were just discussing Romulus' little crush on Ms. Lorelei."

"Mr Mephisto." Romulus groaned, burying his head in his hands as his face turned a bright red.

"Oh, that old news? Albion, Azazel and I have a bet about when those two are gonna start sucking face. I say as soon as they hit puberty. Albion thinks it'll happen sooner, Azazel thinks by the time they're fifteen they'll be mating."

"WHAT?!" Romulus shouted at his mentor, his face burning an even brighter red. "Wait... what's 'sucking face' mean and what's mating?"

"HAHAHA! 'Sucking face' means kissing kid. As for mating, we'll wait to explain that one."

"EWWWW!"

"Ah." Mephisto pondered, stroking his chin with his hand. "How much? I'd like to get in on that action."

"Mr Mephisto!" Romulus protested.

"I'm sorry Romulus, but I am a devil, and I have to get my sin in somewhere. So how much to get in on the bet?"

"Ten thousand."

"I'll match that. I bet they'll kiss after they turn thirteen and as for the 'mating'... I'll leave that bet for another time."

"AHHHH! Please stop. Can I go and punch the bull-oak trees instead of listening to you."

"Apologies Romulus, we'll stop talking about it, at least while you're here. On another note. We've received a betrothal request."

Tannin started laughing even harder than before. Romulus just looked at his guardian in confusion.

"A what?"

"A request for you to marry someone Romulus."

"WHAT?! WHY?"

"Who's it from?" Tannin quieted his laughter long enough to ask.

"The Phenex clan."

"Heh." Tannin scoffed. "Just reject it right now."

"I thought we should, and I believe this might be a good opportunity to test Romulus against others his age, at least besides Vali and Adrianna. The marriage contract names Ravel Phenex as the one who Romulus will wed but should it be rejected it lists her brother Riser as the one who will fight on her behalf. Not totally unreasonable since Ravel is only seven years old but-"

"But I was training from six and you said I was as strong as a devil twice my age. By the time I was seven you said I was as strong as some of the adult devils."

"That I did Romulus, though you are somewhat of a special case. That extra king piece gives you quite the advantage but I do have to say that without your training you would still be quite weak."

"So what do I do? I don't want to get married yet... and not to her."

"Oh? Perhaps you would prefer another. Perhaps a blonde magician whom we all know."

"S-stop it Mr Mephisto. I didn't mean it like that. But why do I have to fight someone if I don't want to get married?"

"It is a matter of strength Romulus." Mephisto instructed.

"Wha?"

"See kid, devils value strength and any devil who isn't strong enough just ends up getting pushed around." Tannin lectured the boy. "To reject their offer you'll be insulting 'em; sayin' their girl's too weak to be your wife. You have to prove that you're strong enough to go against the Phenex clan and to do that you'll have to fight."

"Ok, I think I get it. So if anyone tells me to do something I don't want to do I just have to beat them up?"

"Not exactly Romulus." Mephisto said to him.

"No that's exactly right." Tannin nodded.

"Tannin! We do not want Romulus' head to be filled with such ideas. Brute force is not the solution to every problem."

"It is when people are askin' you to marry their daughters."

Mephisto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers to soothe the headache he could practically feel coming on.

"Either way, as for now if we refuse the contract you will have to fight the young lord Riser, and he is already thirteen years old."

"I don't care. I'll fight him, and I'll beat him. Besides, you said I needed to fight others around my age outside of Vali."

"I admire your vigor Romulus but still, Riser has a number of advantages over you, first he has his phenex flames and second the beginnings of a peerage."

"That might be a problem." Tannin said, looking rather thoughtful. "One on one I'm sure our little titan would win but with a peerage backing him up there'll be a lot of unknown factors we can't predict."

"What's a peerage?" Asked Romulus.

The two older devils looked at the boy as if he'd grown a second head.

"You have a king piece inside you and thirty evil pieces already and you still don't know what a peerage is?" Tannin asked, incredulous.

"Well Tannin to be fair to the boy we hadn't covered that yet."

"He'll be old enough to get his own set in just half a year. How did we not discuss this with him?"

"I was busy training." Romulus interjected, trying to be helpful.

Mephisto sighed.

"Well, we might as well explain now, we might be welcoming new devils sometime soon if we reject their proposal." Mephisto ushered Romulus to a chair, taking a seat across the table from the boy once he had gotten comfortable.

"Romulus, a peerage is a group of reincarnated devils that a high class devil gathers in their service. Additionally devils alongside their peerage engage in contests known as rating games to determine their strength. Tannin is a member of my Peerage, he holds the rank of my queen."

"But Mr Tannin is a boy... isn't he?"

Mephisto smiled slightly, giving a rather unsophisticated snort as an answer while the dragon seemed to pout.

"Yes Romulus he is a boy. Queen is just a title stating that he has the powers of a queen piece is chess."

"Oh, so that's what those weird chess pieces mommy and daddy gave me are for? To make a peerage?"

"Yes and no. Normally a parent's evil pieces are not passed on when they die and instead simply destroy themselves, save for any that exist within members of their peerage. Your parents' pieces are once again a special case. Based on what you told us I believe that your parents allowed your demonic power to overwhelm theirs voluntarily, allowing the pieces to be transferred over to you. Once you are ten years old however you will be allowed to receive a peerage set of your own, provided you join the main devil faction."

"So I can have forty-five servants?"

"You could but it would raise too many questions. Really in most circumstances your extra pieces would be useless but luckily for us I have been researching the Evil pieces since Ajuka introduced them to me for testing in the late sixteenth century. I believe that if we have all of your pieces we can combine them, or transform them. We'll have to wait until we get your pieces but for now let's set about studying up on the Phenex clan, it won't be long after our refusal that they'll demand their match.

* * *

"Damn it all!"

"Calm yourself Sirzechs."

"How can I, those damn birds have fucked everything up."

The four Satans were gathered, as they did every week, in the grand hall of the Maous to discuss matters of their state. Ajuka Beelzebub looked over at his oldest friend with a raised eyebrow.

"I fail to see how they have 'fucked everything up' to quote you."

"They sent out a marriage proposal to Romulus Titanius."

The other Satans paused. Ajuka's eyes widened and Serafall looked angry... and a tad jealous.

"That does complicate things."

"They sent out their proposal before me?"

"Serafall? You sent a proposal as well?"

"Oh don't look at me like that Zechy-chan, I know you just finished writing yours this morning."

Sirzechs recoiled at the Leviathan's accusation sweating nervously under his green-haired colleague's sharp stare.

"So both of you tried to have him marry your sisters? or some member of your house?"

"Yep." Serafall smiled innocently, obviously not seeing anything wrong with the move.

"I did." By contrast Sirzechs was far more composed and serious with his admittance.

"So now all of the underworld is going to know that Romulus Titanius is up for grabs." Falbium Asmodeus chuckled. "Finally some good entertainment. I've got to grab some popcorn and watch the betrothals fall like rain."

"This is serious Falbium." Ajuka snapped before rounding on his two fellow leaders. "Do you two realise how volatile you could have made this situation. Now we have the Phenex to pin the rush on but if either of you have been a bit faster this would have fallen on us."

"I don't get what the big idea is." Serafall shrugged. "It's been three years, that's more than enough time to let the suspicions of the extra-demons die down, and we haven't heard a wiff of rebellion from them since. We're in the clear."

"First of all Serafall, we are not 'in the clear'. We will never be in the clear until Romulus is bound to us."

"And he will be, once he rejects the Phenexs and accepts his marriage to my little So-tan."

"And second... I had dibs."

Serafall tensed, as did Sirzechs.

"Hehe... Aju-chan, you said it was fake."

"Y-yeah, you said it was just so we didn't do anything stupid."

"You two did do something stupid. You sent off betrothal requests, and you broke dibs. You know what the inter-mythology dibs protocol has to say about that."

"N-now now Ajuka, I think we can let this go, just this once... right?"

"Yeah yeah Aju-chan, we can work something out."

"Oh we will but first we have to deal with those immortal fire birds."

* * *

The Lord of the House of Phenex was not used to being rejected. He was not pleased with being rejected. His mood was made no better by the fact that he had been summoned to appear before the four Maous.

The leader of the Phenex family was a patient, kind and humble man by most accounts, who wanted the best for his children and grandchildren, and desired the progression of his clan to the upper echelons of the devil government. It was because of this that he had already arranged a marriage between his youngest son Riser and the Gremory princess Rias, which was to take place within the decade.

He had just made his first step in establishing another marriage that would further his line with his proposal to Romulus Titanius.

Everyone knew of the clan's all but destruction by way of a short but bloody civil war. The only survivor had been the clan heir, and only because he had not been at the clan compound when the battle took place. Rumours had of course circulated, rumours about who had 'really' killed the Titanius clan, but such preposterous and malicious things were beneath his station.

Lord Phenex had not been bothered with such farfetched theories, instead only sending his heartfelt condolences and wishes of comfort and prosperity to the young boy. He'd even met Romulus Titanius once to offer his sympathies at his family's funeral. He'd seemed nice enough, saddened as anyone would be over the loss of so many loved ones, but none the less exquisitely polite and well-mannered. Even his two guardians; Mephistopheles and Tannin, who were both present at the funeral and constantly at the boy's side, were cordial to everyone.

But three years had passed since that day, and everyone who was anyone was talking about when the boy would become engaged. For a family as endangered at the Titanius it was almost a scandal that the boy was not engaged to at least a dozen women to reseed his bloodline. The underworld was known for polygamy and polyamorous relations, and even if the boy was not of the straight persuasion devils had never shied away from the fluid nature of sexuality.

Finally it appeared that the first stone would be cast. Lord Phenex had made sure that his request would be the first to reach Mephisto's domain. Surely with his clan's famous strength and future political power the young heir would no doubt accept his offer under the old devils guidance. Not to mention that the animosity that had existed between his and Romulus' clan could be settled with no need for any kind of fight. It was a splendid offer for all parties involved.

What he had not expected was for his proposal to be rejected and returned the very same day it had been received.

Now he was standing in front of four of the most powerful devils in the underworld, unsure of why he had been called and already very unhappy.

"You have summoned me, Lord Satans."

"We have, Lord Phenex. We have called you to appear here with regards to your betrothal request to Romulus Titanius."

 _'Ah'_ The man thought. ' _That is what this is about? I suppose they must have heard of my sending my request. But why make a fuss like this? Perhaps they suspect foul play, or maybe they are unhappy their own requests were not first.'_

"Lord Satans, I do not understand what this meeting is for. I sent Romulus Titanius a request for a betrothal to by young daughter Ravel, she is around his age and will certainly make a fine first bride for the boy. What seems to be the problem?"

Serafall Leviathan stood up from her chair, her hair floating behind her and her face becoming covered in darkness as her eyes flashed like torchlights.

"You sent your proposal before ME!" She yelled childishly. "Rom-chan was supposed to marry my So-tan."

There was a soft cough, coming from Ajuka Beelzebub, who glared at the former Sitri devil until she sat down, looking rather depressed. Lord Phenex looked between the Maous with a raised eyebrow. There was none of the unity present that they normally advertised. In fact, each member seemed to be acting like they were in a completely different meeting.

Serafall Leviathan was giving him a death glare to end all death glares, it would have been intimidating had she not been in the form of a young girl in a magical girl outfit with her cheeks puffed out to look a squirrel who had stuffed their face with acorns. Sirzechs Lucifer also seemed upset but seemed more concerned with Ajuka Beelzebub, who was alternating between glaring Serafall into submission, a mission he was succeeding in if her cowed state after a few minutes of shifting her glare from the Phenex lord to her fellow Satan was any indicator, and looking at him. Finally Falbium Asmodeus was perhaps the most interesting. He was leaning back in his chair with a bowl of popcorn in his hands, munching on the treat as he watched the other three.

"Lord Phenex." Ajuka finally addressed the old devil. "We have called you to know whether you have received a reply from young Romulus."

"My lord Satans, I have only sent out the request this morning."

Ajuka Beelzebub leaned forward, his eyes flashing at the non-answer.

"You are avoiding the question Lord Phenex. That leads me to believe that you have received a response. Please be honest with us."

' _Damn.'_ Thought the older devil. He took a deep breath, it seems he would have to air out his shame in front of four of the most powerful devils to ever live. One of whom seemed to be actively against his plans.

"I have."

"May we know what it was?"

"He has rejected it, but he has accepted my son Riser's challenge for his sister's honor."

"Ha!" Serafall laughed. "Of course they'd reject you, they're waiting for my So-tan to meet him."

"Serafall." Ajuka snapped. The foreign affairs Maou visibly flinched at her fellow's harsh tone, something Lord Phenex filed away for later, counting the Lord Beelzebub as a potential ally.

"We thank you for your honesty Lord Phenex." Ajuka addressed him again. "You are excuse-"

There was a loud knocking on the door to the Satan's chambers.

"What is it now?" Ajuka groaned.

"My lord." One of the many employees who worked in the building entered with his head bowed and a deferential manner. "Lord Mephisto Pheles, alongside his queen Lord Tannin and Romulus Titanius are here to request an early admittance into the rating games system."

The assembled group of high-ranked devils shared a look between themselves.

"For what reason?"

"Lord Pheles was vague my lord, and wished to speak with you personally. He did state that there was an informal rating game that had to be prepared for."

Lord Phenex grumbled under his breath as the four Maous turned to look at him. This latest development could prove to complicate things. His son Riser's peerage was not fully developed, but for a boy of just thirteen he did have a good number of pieces. Had the young Titanius faced off against such a force alone the head of the Phenex clan was certain that his son would prevail, but should the Titanius heir gather pieces of his own to rival Riser there would be some doubt as to the outcome.

"Well, This meeting was just about over. Please inform Lord Pheles and the young lord Titanius that I will be in to see them soon."

The servant bowed his head. "At once my lord, is there anything else you will be needing."

"Escort them to the fourth meeting hall on the second floor, I will receive them there."

"Of course sir."

The green-haired devil stood up from his seat, an action that seemed to prompt the room's other occupants to do the same.

"Lord Phenex, I thank you for your cooperation and wish you and your son the best of luck in your upcoming endeavours."

' _If that is true you will reject Lord Romulus' request.'_ The clan head thought with a trace of bitterness.

"My Lord, will you be accepting Lord Mephisto and Lord Titanius' request?"

The Maou Beelzebub rubbed his chin for a moment.

"That depends on how good of a case they make for the young lord's inclusion. Good day, lord Phenex."

The four satans left him standing the room, exiting together before he himself was allowed to leave. Once they had vacated the room Lord Phenex flared his powers. Fire and demonic magic filled the room, burning and throwing the furniture around the room, making an enormous crashing noise.

"Damn."

* * *

"Oh man Aju-chan, I thought he was gonna lose it when you joked about giving Rom-chan his peerage early."

"I wasn't joking Serafall."

The three Maous behind him stopped dead in their tracks, staring at Ajuka's back.

"What?" Sirzechs asked, running up to his friend. "You can't do that, do you know what kind of accusations we could be saddled with once people realise that we also have requests pending. People are going to think that we are working to sabotage the Phenexs and bind Romulus to ourselves."

"That is what you two were planning to do, and I just need to clear something up. It will look exactly like that and it will prevent either of the two of you from trying to marry him off to one of your sisters."

His two friends looked aghast while Falbium simply smirked.

"This will be your penalty for breaking the dibs and will keep both of your sis-con hands to yourselves. Once the heat dies down it'll be the Agares clan that sends in their own proposal."

Falbium looked between the three, his smirk evolving into a full grin.

"The Agreas clan is sworn to you Ajuka, everyone knows that, it won't look any better if you include Romulus early than if it was Sirzechs or Serafall."

The two levied victorious grins at the Beelzebub, who just returned them.

"Oh don't worry about all that Falbium, I already have it all planned out. For now I'm off to meet with head of a very influenceable clan."

* * *

Romulus was fidgeting nervously as he say on one of the couches in the Maous waiting room.

Sitting opposite him his mentor and guardian Mephisto sat, cool as a cucumber flipping through a newspaper about the underworld's economy.

"Mr Mephisto."

"Yes Romulus."

"Why am I here?"

"To get your peerage set so you can fight an even battle against Riser Phenex."

"I know but… why do I have to be here?"

"You will need to be present to undergo the ceremony and to physically receive your pieces Romulus."

"Can't you do it for me?"

"What's wrong kid?" Tannin interrupted.

"I.. I just… I'm nervous. We're in Maou territory, and the Maous… they-"

Romulus was cut off when Tannin subtly placed his hands over the boy's mouth.

"I understand that meeting the Maous can be a jarring concept." Mephisto did not look up from his magazine but his eyes flickered to meet Romulus'.

' _Not here, not now.'_ Romulus heard his mentor's voice in his head. ' _We will discuss this later, for now understand that we are being watched, do not speak of what you know.'_

"But they are just devils like any other Romulus, and you are here with both of us for a good reason."

"Ok."

The door to the meeting room opened and in walked Ajuka Beelzebub.

"Mephisto. How are you my old friend?"

The two men embraced, Mephisto's face morphing into a small smile.

"I am well Ajuka, still trying to find all those little 'features' you placed in the evil pieces. By the way, the mutation and evolution features: just brilliant. A wonderful way to reward devils who strengthen their peerages."

"Ah so you found that one did you?"

"Of course, of course. I still have many to discover, It's a wonderful puzzle."

"Well the pieces are always changing so let's hope it's a puzzle that'll never be completely solved."

"Hear, hear."

There was a cough behind the two as Tannin placed his hand on Romulus' shoulder.

"Ah, of course, how silly of me. Ajuka, I am sorry but this isn't just a social visit. We came to request for Romulus to be entered early into the rating game system."

"Any specific reason? He's only six months from being officially allowed to participate."

"We received a betrothal and the challenger has a peerage. We're hoping to even the odds, but you already knew that didn't you?"

"You overestimate me my friend."

"Oh I doubt that Ajuka. Your lack of surprise gives you away."

"Ah… hehe." The man chuckled. "You always could see through me master."

"It is a teacher's duty to know when his student is trying to keep something from him. I didn't spend all that time teaching you magic for you to be able to fool me so easily."

Ajuka laughed, his voice light and airy.

"Fine, fine. We got word about Lord Phenex's betrothal request. We actually just finished a meeting with him about his son Riser's betrothal to lady Rias."

"Getting ambitious aren't they."

"Lord Phenex is a kind man, but by no means immune to the sin of devils, he's just more subtle about it."

"Well now you see our dilemma, if it's not too much trouble we would very much appreciate this little gesture to aid out young friend."

"It is possible but I just have to know, does he already have candidates for his peerage? If not there may be some accusations of favouritism as opposed to a necessary means to level the playing field."

"Oh we have a few ideas, Tannin and I haven't neglected to find members for our young protégé."

"Well, I suppose six months won't make too much difference, and Sirzechs and Serafall have been strong-arming me into allowing Romulus into the system since we found out this morning. I would suggest you keep an eye out for their requests to marry him to either Sona or Rias."

"Isn't the young lady Gremory already engaged to Riser Phenex."

"Come now Mephisto, I think you know about the underworld's propensity for polygamy and harems. I'm sure you aren't all that surprised that Lord and Lady Gremory would try to gather one for their daughter."

"True enough, but Romulus has his sights set on his own lady love." Mephisto and Tannin laughed as Romulus blushed heavily and glared at the two of them. "Isn't that right Romulus?"

"Shut up Mr Mephisto, I do not."

Ajuka laughed along with the two other devils. It seemed the boy was recovering well from the massacre. Taking a moment Ajuka tried very discreetly to probe the boy's mind. He trusted Grayfia but it never hurt to double check.

"Feeling the boy's mind he tried to enter it, attempting to look through his memories. He was instead met with a brick wall of mental barriers.

Ajuka retreated. He wouldn't be able to penetrate those barriers without everyone noticing, but their mere presence ignited his suspicions.

' _So you've taken steps Mephisto, but what is worth hiding in a child's mind? Perhaps a truth that could endanger him?'_

"So the young Titanius is already chasing skirts, I see that your queen has instructed him well."

Tannin burst into laughter, louder than before.

"Hey you little brat. I'm not part of the race that's built to embody sin."

"Actually my friend you are. Don't you remember? my queen piece is inside you?"

"I am a dragon Mephisto, no evil piece or demonic power says different."

"Fine, fine." Mephisto waved off his queen with a chuckle of amusement. "Well Ajuka, do you agree? Will Romulus get his chance at a fair fight?"

"I suppose, Come boy, we'll get you registered and you'll get your pieces within the week."

* * *

WOW. This took almost literally a year. The funny thing is that I've had at least a quarter of it done for the last seven months and was planning on releasing it sooner but shit happened and I was too busy to finish it all. I know I don't have that great of a track record but I promise I will try to get the next chapter out sooner than this one. Also look over the last few chapters because I have done extensive edits to flesh them out and make them longer so there's that. I already have half of chapter 6 done as of my posting this so I hope to post it by mid-May and the next one soon after that, stay tuned and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Romulus height (142 cm, 4 feet 8 inches) age 9 years 6 months

Vali height (139 cm, 4 feet 6 inches) 9 years

Adrianna height (132 cm, 4 feet, 4 inches) 9 years 5 months


	6. Chapter 6

The halls of the Pheles manor of the magic association were quiet, with the exception of a single room.

Within that room, Romulus Titanius, the sole survivor of the annihilation of his clan, was laying heavily into a punching back augmented by magic. It was nowhere near as tough as a bull-oak tree but at that moment Romulus couldn't have cared less. The bag felt closer to how he imagined the Maous' faces would feel when he punched them, and Mephisto had not deemed the bull-oak woods as a safe place to talk.

"You talked to him like he was your friend!" He yelled at Mephisto without taking taking his eyes off of the bag as his fist punctured its material, forcing him to unhook the ruined piece of exercise equipment and get a fresh bad.

"He is my friend." Mephisto said calmly, going over the decree they had been given dictating Romulus' acceptance into the rating games ahead of schedule. Oddly enough considering it was Ajuka Beelzebub who had approved the request the actual decree was signed by the Maous Leviathan and Lucifer. Mephisto pondered on what his former student could be hoping to achieve with the move before shrugging. A genius Ajuka undoubtably was but sometimes prone to strange decisions.

"He had my family killed." Romulus grunted out through gritted teeth as he hooked up another bag. As he descended the ladder he had been using he took a moment to glare at Mephisto before getting in his stance and giving the bag a swift kick.

"Your family was planning a revolt against him Romulus."

"You sound like you're on his side."

"I am on no one's side Romulus."

"Then why are you helping me?"

It was the first time in all of his three years under Mephisto's guardianship that Romulus had asked him that. Mephisto was almost hurt by the boy's sudden anger but considering his age he wouldn't allow such childish outbursts to affect him so deeply.

"I helped you because I was a friend of your parents, and their parents and their parents before them, up until the original Titaniuses thousands of years ago." Mephisto walked forward and grabbed Romulus by his shoulders, stilling the seething boy.

"Romulus you must understand. I do not like what the Maous did to your family. It was duplicitous and cruel and an act of attacking without true provocation." Romulus wiped the angry tears from his cheeks as Mephisto held the boy by his shoulders.

"At the same time, I understand why they did such a cruel thing."

"They're the bad guys Mr Mephisto." Romulus said to him, his body shaking from his tears.

"There are no bad guys here, Romulus. Just two sides of the story, both of whom did things that were wrong to the other. You are just one side."

"Then why keep my secret?"

"I told you Romulus, Galahad and Helen where my friends. Your family has been a wondrous collection of friends and allies going back millenium. I also do not feel you should be held responsible for your families would-be crimes. That does not however mean I will abandon my precious disciple and student. I do not agree with this, but I understand it."

"So when you tell me not to focus of revenge, it's because you don't want your friend to die." Romulus glared at the man.

"In part, but by far the largest reason is that I do not want you to waste your life on revenge. It seems like a glorious prize now but in the end, when you stand over your enemies corpse you will see that you have not alleviated your own suffering, you have simply passed it on and become the villain that you sought to destroy. Perhaps this is all a bit too much for you to understand now Romulus, but I want you to realise that in this world those who believe themselves the heroes are only so because they are the ones telling their story, and they can just as easily become the villains they fight against."

Romulus sniffed and wiped his nose looking down.

"Are you going to stop me?"

"Only if you begin to do things I find wrong."

"What about Ajuka Beelzebub and the Maous?"

"I will help you get justice Romulus. Justice, not vengeance."

"...Okay."

"I know this is hard Romulus. But please trust me when I say you will understand when you are older."

"Okay Mr Mephisto. I don't think I understand... but I trust you."

"That's all I ask Romulus. Now, since the decree has been signed you will have one week before your piece drawing ceremony."

"My what?"

"You will have to undergo a ceremony where you will draw out your evil pieces from a piece of Agreas crystal. This will be our only opportunity to merge your parent's evil pieces with your own."

"Okay but why can't we do it here?"

"The fusions, once they are completed, will undoubtably change your evil pieces into something similar to mutations, as they will have the power of several standard pieces. It would be best if we could avoid the questions raised by such events."

"Okay... I guess."

"To that effect over the next week we will be training you on how to combine the pieces already at your disposal, unfortunately this will eat up the remainder of your free time Romulus, at least for the week."

"That's okay, I'll just tell Adrianna I won't have time for out studying." The boy looked down with a frown as he contemplated not being able to spend time with one of his only friends.

Mephisto noticed the boy's disheartened continence and taking some pity on the boy raised his hand.

"Hold on there Romulus, perhaps Ms Lorelei could be useful."

"What?" Romulus tilted his head to the side in confusion. "How, I thought we were working with my demonic power, she can't even use it."

"But she has a remarkable ability to understand magic beyond even what her gear should provide her."

Romulus' face brightened and he smiled slightly at Mephisto. "I guess it can't hurt, I'll go get her."

"Very good Romulus."

* * *

"So how does all this work?"

Romulus and Adrianna were walking down the halls of the Pheles manor. Romulus had just finished retrieving his long-time friend from her advanced magic class, which judging by her bored expression and glossed over gaze was not so advanced for her. The young Sacred Gear user had near jumped from her chair when he had informed the instructor that Mephisto had summoned her, and had promptly dragged her best friend behind her as she raced out of the room.

"I don't really know. I guess once someone agrees to join my peerage they just get one of my pieces and they turn into a devil."

"Just like that?"

"I said I don't know."

"You have some kind of battle in a month and if you lose you have to marry some little girl, but you don't know how to use the thing that might help you win?"

"I never even heard of a peerage until yesterday. I'm pretty sure Mr Mephisto'll explain."

"I guess."

"Wow, you guess? I didn't think there was anything you didn't know."

Adrianna punched his shoulder, fighting a small blush that appeared on her face as she glared at her friend.

"Idiot."

The two continued in silence, more than comfortable enough with each other to stand silence.

"Who're you gonna chose for you pieces?"

Romulus looked over at her. Adrianna had a small blush on her face and was looking anywhere but at him.

"I don't know. Mr Mephisto said I at least need a two pieces to make sure I win but I bet I could win by myself."

Adrianna rolled her eyes.

"You and Vali, always thinking with your muscles not your heads."

"Hey, I think with my head, that's why I won our last match."

"And now you're back to being tied."

"You don't have to be mean about it."

She sighed.

"I know, I just... if you lose you have to marry some girl, none of us have ever met."

"Why is it such a bit deal if you've never met her."

Adrianna glared at him.

"Because you're my friend you idiot, I don't want you to go away." She paused and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?"

"Forget it."

"Noooooo, Ari what were you gonna say."

"Otherwise I'd be lonely." She puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms, making a very visible show of her displeasure.

"Well I won't go with her. I'm gonna win. I promise." Romulus held out his hand and extended his pinky finger. "Pinky swear."

Adrianna looked at the offered digit for an instant before she wrapped her own pinky around it and the two shook.

* * *

 **The Island of Agreas**

Romulus was nervous. He hadn't expected this to be how he got his evil pieces, or how he'd pull one over on the Maous. When Mephisto had told him that he'd combine his thirty existing pieces with his new fifteen from the Maous he'd thought that he'd just do it once they brought them back to their home.

Apparently that had been wishful thinking, because nothing was ever that easy. Instead he would have to hold the pieces inside of him and when he extracted his new pieces from the Agraeas territory pillars he'd have to manually combine them inside himself, all without anyone noticing him doing it.

The three of them had spent the last week practicing, combining his other thirty pieces inside of himself, luckily for them the pieces radiated his own demonic power and so as long as Romulus' power was greater than their combined power, which thankfully it was, they should have had no problem. They had fused and unfused the pieces in so many configurations Romulus couldn't remember them all.

Knight with queen, rook with bishop, bishop with queen with rook. At one point they had combined all of his pieces into a single, as Mephisto called it, Omni-piece. Mephisto had said that it was something similar to a queen piece but powered to the extreme, capable of reincarnating anything. The amount of strain that move had put on the young boy had nearly killed him, and after that he'd never been so happy to end his training.

The problem had persisted in his mind for the entire week however. Which of his pieces was he going to fuse? What combinations? He'd spent hours of his admittedly limited free time considering it until he had finally come to a decision.

With that decision, and after one whole week of training to suppress the powers of the evil pieces, he was here. Standing in front of a group of assembled devils and others who had come to see him inducted into the system of the rating games.

There was a distinct divide between the three camps that had come to view this event. On the one hand there were those of the New-Devil faction, consisting mostly of the remaining pillar heads and a few high ranking devils not belonging to the clans. On another side there were the extra-demons. They mostly consisted of a few clan heads Romulus had met when they had come to visit his parents and many who were completely unfamiliar to him. Some had even brought their heirs or other female children, no doubt in an attempt to entice him. There were even a few members of some of the other underworld factions like the Yokai and the Yomi factions. The final group was by far the most welcome sight and Romulus found himself paying the most attention to them. Mephisto, Tannin, Adrianna, Vali and Azazel were all sitting together in front of the stage he was on. They had been given front row seats as they were personal invites of Romulus, as opposed to the others who had either invited themselves or been invited by the Maous.

All four of the Maous were present as well, sitting off to the side but up on stage with him. Ajuka Beelzebub stood up, coming to stand next to Romulus, and addressed the crowd.

"We are here today to witness a grand event in any young devil's life. The formation of a peerage is a sacred trust between a devil and those who he chooses to bring into his service. It is a bond of companionship that can never be severed and should be held dear."

He gestured to a large pillar off to the side.

"It is from this that we draw our peerages, and through them, our strength. Now Romulus Titanius, you are about to take for yourself the power of a peerage. Are you prepared?"

"I am prepared." The words were rehearsed, along with the methods of merging his pieces Mephisto had also spent the week tutoring Romulus on the proper acceptance of his peerage set.

"No one is prepared. But should you have the arrogance then go and take what is yours, grab it and do not let it go, hoard it like a dragon hoards its gold."

There was a growl from the Tannin in the crowd, obviously he did not appreciate the slight against his kind, no matter how accurate it could be in some cases.

"For it is not in a devil's nature to surrender power."

Ajuka made another gesture and the giant obelisk of black stone levitated onto the stage. It hovered slightly over the ground before being gently set just to Romulus' left. A podium emerged from the floor at the same time, coming up to around the young boy's height with a chess board sitting atop it, though unlike a normal board this one only had fifteen spaces. It was also completely empty.

Romulus stepped away from the Maou and after taking three long strides he reached towering mass of glossy black stone.

He reached his hand out and felt the first of his pieces. It was a queen, already he felt his power flare as it was drained into the piece. Allowing his energy to flow he also forced his two other queen pieces to slip through with it. The three merged together, taking on a strange and shifting colour. The top of the queen piece also changed as it formed in his hand after he removed it from the obelisk, the top had taken on the likeness of a roaring lion's head instead of the traditional crown shape as he placed it on the board.

The crowd gasped, many of them muttering and conversing as they watched him put the queen down.

"A mutation?"

"A queen at that."

"Never seen one like that before."

Off to the side Tannin and Mephisto shared a look and a smirk, the gesture was lost on all as they watched the boy in awe.

At least it was missed by most. From their places Ajuka Beelzebub and Azazel watched the two quietly snicker.

"You don't seem surprised."

Mephisto turned to the fallen angel, his smile not leaving his face.

"Romulus is an extraordinary boy. I had no doubt that he'd gain at least one mutation piece."

"I suppose, but you have to admit that a mutated queen is quite special."

"Oh I know, but not unheard of."

"You know something 'phisto."

"Oh Azazel, must you always assume that I am keeping secrets?"

"It saves time."

"Well I assure you that I know nothing of how this will play out. It is all up to Romulus' strength."

"… Fine."

They were interrupted by another round of chattering, both men turned to look as Romulus pulled a bishop free of the stone. The bishop was also shifting in colour and intensity, and like the queen piece it's top had changed. The piece had gained the visage of a snake's head, which was reared back and baring its fangs. Another piece, looking exactly the same, soon joined its brother on the other side of the queen

"Another?"

"Three mutations?"

"Impossible."

"It this real?"

"How?"

The crowd gasped in shock as the smiles slipped from Mephisto and Tannin's faces. They too joined the crowd in stunned silence as Romulus pulled out his fourth and fifth mutation pieces.

These two piece, a pair of knights, were different from the others. Unlike the queen and bishop, who merely had their tops changed, The knight had changed much more noticeably. Instead of taking the form of a standard horse, they took the form of a pair of winged Pegasus. The beasts were rearing on their hind legs, wings extended above their heads, and a saddled figure in armour riding on their backs with spears in their hands. Romulus placed both pieces down on the board, a massive smile on his face as he seemed to openly relish the shock and awe of the entire crowd.

His final pair of speciality pieces; his rooks, came out with changes beyond even those of the knights. They took on the forms of mountains instead of towers, with a pair of mountain goats climbing on each side. Their back hooves connected to the ragged-looking bases while their front hooved met in the air, connecting them and forming an arch.

The crowd reached a cacophonous uproar as they witnesses the creation of seven mutation pieces in a single peerage.

"I need that boy!"

"I want your babies!"

"Marry me!"

"Damn that kid!"

"Is he even real?

All three camps were standing now, shouting and clamouring to gain even the slightest bit of attention from the Titanius heir. The cries demanding alliances with the heir were only drowned out by the pleas of some of the female devils to have children with them. Some of their forms shifted and changed in an attempt to entice the young boy but Romulus never took his eyes off of the large stone obelisk.

Sitting to the side on the stage and therefore free from the chaos of the crowd the Maous were perhaps the only ones still sitting. That did not make them immune to the commotion. Together they watched with fascination as Romulus pulled out mutation after mutation from the stone.

"He's powerful." Serafall observed, licking her lips slightly as a hungry look overtook her eyes. "Maybe I'll take him myself. I'm sure Sona won't mind sharing this particular toy with me."

"Serafall." Sirzechs snapped, tearing his eyes away from the incredible display long enough to glare at the Leviathan before they snapped over to Beelzebub.

"Hey." She said, shrugging. "At least we know that the Phenexs won't be getting him, he'll have thousands of powerful devils lining up to join his peerage with all those mutation pieces."

"Yes." Ajuka agreed. "But that could prove to be a problem."

"What do you mean? He's a part of our faction now that he has a peerage. He'll join one of our houses. Preferably mine and-"

"He'll be joining my house or House Ageras Serafall, we already agreed that would be your punishment."

"That and pinning his advancement on us. Now everyone thinks we're trying to get him in our camps with favouritism."

"That should be your lesson."

"Sometimes I hate you Aju-chan."

"And yet you still call me Aju-chan."

"… Shut up."

Back at centre-stage, Romulus was pulling out the first of his pawns. For him this had been the hardest to decide. He wanted to make sure he had choices with regards to how many of each piece he had. This had been his best solution and with a bit of experimentation not even Mephisto or Tannin had seen he'd be able to shock everyone. He pulled out his first pawn, but instead of simply pushing two of his other pawns into it he instead forced a different piece. He channelled a bishop piece to merge with it.

The pawn piece that emerged was taller than a normal pawn. It also had a snake curling around it with the pawn's spherical top clutched in its jaws and was radiated the power of a bishop.

"What the hell?"

"What is that thing?"

"How is he even doing that?"

"I want his babies soooo bad!"

"Fuck Me!"

"I'LL GIVE YOU MY BODY!"

If the previous reaction to his unique pieces were loud, this newest reveal of an entirely new kind of piece elicited a roar that could overwhelm a hurricane. The crowd practically trampled each other to get even the slightest bit closer to the stage. By that time the scene resembled more a group of rabid fans after their object of affection and a sophisticated gathering of some of the most powerful members of the various underworld factions.

Romulus pulled out his second pawn piece, this one fused with his last knight, which was a pawn with the Pegasus and knight resting at its top. His last fused pawn came with a rook attached, and featured a mountain goat curled up on the flattened summit of the piece.

His finale was far more tame than his previous pulls, five mutated pawn pieces, each featuring a chimera as a decoration were far less exciting that what had come before but most certainly would cause chatter once the assembled members had calmed.

By the end of the ceremony Romulus stood in front of an enraptured crowd and a full fifteen evil pieces, all of which were unique and different from the standardized sets most devils obtained. This uniqueness was not just in the design. From where they had all crowded at the base of the stage each and every spectator could sense that all fifteen of his evil pieces were mutations, made exponentially more powerful and capable of reincarnating beings with a single piece that would have used times more under any other circumstances.

Seeing that the young boy was through with his impressive display Ajuka stood up, wiping away his own curious and intrigued expression he approached to newest member of the rating game system.

"Romulus Titanius." He said, watching as Romulus turned to face him, his new pieces sitting just to his left. "You have gained your evil pieces, through which you will gain your power and move towards your dream and your destiny. Use them well and justly and you will rise to great heights, fail to act with honor and integrity and you shall be cast down by the very pieces you have misused."

The speech was by all means ceremonial, the evil pieces were not governed by rules beyond the limits of their functions and nowhere were they programmed to judge their wielders.

"I will." Said Romulus, reaching out his hand and making a face of deep concentration. Moments passed and nothing happened, the pieces stayed the same as a rumbling and chuckling was heard.

"A real Titanius."

"At least we know he won't be unstoppable, just teleport him somewhere."

"Can't even form a teleportation circle."

"I still want your babies."

Eventually the whispers and the threat of embarrassment was enough to push the boy over the edge. A glowing purple portal formed under the board, allowing the pieces to be swallowed up and disappear.

"May I present." Ajuka turned, placing his hand on Romulus' shoulder to move him as well. "The newest competitor in the rating games; Romulus Titanius."

The crowd erupted into rancorous applause, but none were so loud as Tannin, who's size made his claps sound like thunder, and Adrianna, who had a massive grin on her face and a suspicious twinkle in her eyes.

Romulus descended from the stage and was met with devils and various supernatural creatures almost fighting to shake his hand. At one point a female yokai took his offered hand and pressed it against her breast, moaning as she forced his fingers to squeeze. Romulus blushed bright red and stuttered a hasty apology and goodbye, much to the yokai's disappointment as she groaned as he drew his hand away. Romulus hurriedly walked through the now good-naturedly laughing crowd, receiving pats to his back and jokes alongside the standard handshakes until he reached his group of friends and mentors.

Vali was the first to greet him, punching him in the shoulder before embracing him in a one armed hug.

"You big show off, you cancel our fight for the week to drag us all out here and then you nearly cause a riot. Figures you'd do anything to avoid losing to me again."

"Ha, you wish Vali. You'll see, we can have our fight when we get back and you'll get to watch me carve another dash on my side of the board."

"Can you two stop talking about training for two seconds."

The two boys turned to find Adrianna, looking rather peeved and tapping her foot. Her cheeks were puffed out in annoyance and her arms were crossed over her chest before her eyes softened.

"Good job Romulus."

"Thanks Ari."

Adrianna's face broke into a smile before she rushed forward, enveloping the two boys in her arms and bringing the three old friends into a long hug.

"Well we know who his first piece is going to be." Mephisto smirked at Azazel as the three watched the children hug.

"I guess we do, I wonder how powerful she'll be with that queen in her and a Longinus gear."

"She's already strong enough to rival those two. I'm sure once she becomes a queen she'll have Romulus on a leash if not both of them."

"Are you kidding me? She's already got that boy wrapped around her finger, and I don't think she's interested in sharing."

Mephisto smiled. "Indeed, she's a truly unique girl."

Azazel shoot his head. "I'll never understand those who choose monogamy."

"Some enjoy the comfort and love of knowing they are the only one for the other, others enjoy sharing their love with those who are willing to build such connections. Adrianna is simply the first type of person, and I believe Romulus is as weill."

"Call me when the boy comes to his senses. I'll take him and Vali out on the town."

"I won't."

"Will we be introducing the other candidates?" Tannin interrupted the two.

"What 'other' candidates?" Azazel asked, glancing between the two of them.

"Nothing to concern yourself over Azazel. Just a few acquaintances of Tannin who would like to meet a devil who is forming a peerage."

"You've gotten him dragons haven't you?"

"Now, now Azazel, don't spoil the surprise."

"So now what?"

"Now we take the children home. I apologise Azazel but we will need to reschedule Vali and Romulus' weekly fight at least this time. I believe that we will be busy acquainting Ms. Lorelei with being a devil.

"A Titanius, and Innovate Clear user and however many dragons you've got in store for him, I almost feel sorry for the Phenex boy."

"Almost?"

"He'll be fighting a team he has no hope of beating, to defend his sister's honor, I actually do feel bad for him."

The three adults approached the chattering children.

"Romulus, Ms Lorelei, it is time for us to go home. Vali, Azazel will be taking you back as well."

Romulus and Vali exchanged glances.

"What? But Mr. Mephisto we still haven't had our fight for this week."

"I understand Romulus but we must prepare. Your fight with young lord Riser is in one month as we must prepare you. You will need to start your peerage and train to work in tandem with them."

"Ok, see you next time Vali."

"Yeah..."

The two boys looked down, disappointed. Tannin looked between the two and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you little hatchlings, just think of this as a chance to do some long term training. You'll see each other again soon enough."

The two shared a look and smiled before bumping fists.

"See you in a month."

"I'll be so much stronger than you I'll take you down in ten seconds."

"Yeah? Well I'll get so strong I'll beat you in five seconds."

"I'll do it in one second."

"I'll do it in one punch."

"Would you two shut up?" Adrianna glared at them. "If you two say one more word I'll take you both on next week."

Both boys stiffened and shuddered, instantly shutting their mouths.

"Vali it's time to go."

"Got it old man."

The fallen angel and the Heavenly Dragon were enveloped in a blinding flash of light before they disappeared, leaving behind a light dusting of crow's feathers in their wake.

"Romulus, Ms Lorelei. I do believe it is time for us to return home."

"Ok Mr Mephisto."

The group gathered together, entering into a magic circle that glowed with black light.

As they were about to leave the crowds parted and through them walked the Four Maous. The teleportation circle fell apart as Mephisto cancelled their exit.

"Mephisto. You weren't planning on leaving without a goodbye were you?"

The old devil turned to meet his former student, his face morphing into a tired but sincere smile.

"I'm afraid we don't have the time to stay Ajuka. We need to begin training Romulus for his first rating game. We only have three weeks left before the game is to begin."

"Of course, of course. Still I hoped that I could congratulate the young man. It's not everyday that a devil has a peerage made entirely of Mutations, it almost beggars belief."

"True enough, I almost don't believe it myself."

The two older men looked down at Romulus, who was somewhat preoccupied showing off his new pieces to Adrianna.

"And this is his queen-to-be I presume."

"We'll find out soon. They have already discussed it and are only going to reveal their decision once we get back."

"Let me know if she agrees."

"I have a feeling she already has."

"Goodbye old friend."

"Of course, I'm sure we'll see each other in a month."

Mephisto stepped away from his former student. Walking smoothly over to his newest pupils and enveloping them and his queenly companion in a large teleportation circle that instantly moved them out of the underworld and up into the mortal realm.

As Ajuka watched the three leave the other Maous emerged, the crowd beginning to disperse at the subject of their uproar left.

"Anything?" Asked Sirzechs. The four spoke together without fear of being overheard, their magics prevented anyone from overhearing them.

"I still couldn't read his mind. It's the same as when I met him a week ago. He knows, I'm sure of it."

Serafall huffed.

"And you just gave him a peerage made entirely of mutations."

"That was all Romulus' doing. I don't know how but I'm sure we will find out, and I have my suspicions."

The other three devil lords glanced at the Maou who was head of the offices of Science and Technology within the underworld. The demon before them had created the Evil Pieces and countless other magics. For him not to know what was going on with his own invention, it was a truly impressive move on the Titanius heir's part.

"So what now?" Asked Falbium as he chewed a popcorn kernel. He hoped they wouldn't have to take any action against the boy until after his fight with Riser Phenex. After the scene he'd caused at mere minutes ago the Maou of military affairs was looking forward to seeing the boy fight.

"For now we can do nothing openly, not until he throws the first punch, but sooner or later he will slip up, and Mephisto will no longer be able to help him."

"Why is Mephisto helping him anyway?" Asked Sirzechs. "He's your old teacher and you two get along well. If you explained it to him I'm sure he'd hand Romulus over."

"He most likely already knows everything Sirzechs, and he has not handed over Romulus yet." Ajuka continued to stare at where his old master's teleportation circle had been.

"Why not?"

"Because he knows what we did and why we did it, but he does not approve."

"We did what was necessary."

"In our eyes we did, but Mephisto has been an ally of the Titanius' since their founding. I have no doubt that he'll aid Romulus, though hopefully not as actively as I fear others might."

"How so Aju-chan?"

"If Romulus shows himself to reflect his clan's views we may well have an uprising of extra-demons on our hands, and given Romulus' probable knowledge of our actions he'll likely be even more vocal than the rest of his clan. The actions we took to prevent such a civil war may well be the seeds that sow the conflict we sought to end."

"Then we get rid of him." The Maou Leviathan's voice was cold and calculating, a far cry from her normally playful candour. "We send rogue devils, hire mercenaries, call in favours with our allies. We do whatever it takes."

"We will, Serafall, I will make sure of that, but I want to try and avoid bloodshed if we can, we should not waste a powerful potential ally by turning him so quickly into an enemy, there are ways we can use this."

* * *

The teleportation circle expanded outwards at the entrance of the training room, from its glow four figures of varying shapes and sizes appeared.

Romulus and Adrianna seemed abuzz with excitement as they rushed from the circle to the centre of the room. Romulus faced his hands up and closed his eyes in concentration.

As it was in the underworld, and perhaps to an even greater extent without the ambient magic aiding in his efforts, Romulus' summoning of his peerage pieces was a slow process. It took nearly a full minute for the box to fall out of his magic circle and into his hands.

Once he hand the chess set safely in his hands he looked over at Adrianna. She was looking excitedly but nervously at him.

"So you agreed."

The two children where snapped out of their thoughts by Mephisto and Tannin, who were walking calmly towards them.

"Mr Mephisto." Romulus said to his mentor. "I want to make Adrianna my queen. Can you show me how?"

"Hold on a moment Romulus." Mephisto stopped his over-eager student. He turned to Adrianna, watching as she fidgeted nervously under his gaze.

"Ms Lorelei, did you agree to this?"

The girl in question nodded her head, looking up into her teacher's heterochromatic eyes.

"I did Lord Mephisto."

"Why?"

"I... I don't want to be lonely anymore."

Mephisto looked at the, raising his eyebrow to signal her to continue.

"Romulus." Adrianna gulped and looked at the young devil, who stood at her side and took her hand in his. "He was the first person who wasn't angry when I copied his spells, and everyone else here just thinks I'm like the Loreleis who cheated. Romulus was the first friend I ever made here and now he might have to leave if he can't get anyone to follow him. I don't want him to leave. Besides, how bad can being a devil be. Romulus's one and Vali's half one. It can't be that bad."

There was a long and drawn out silence as the old devil and the dragon king looked on at the two young children.

"That's a better reason than most give." Tannin finally broke the silence and looked at Mephisto. "Should we?"

"I suppose if it is Ms Lorelei's decision. I can support such a thing." Mepisto rubbed his chin. "I doubt her parents will approve."

"They already said yes." Romulus said and Adrianna nodded her head vigorously.

"Is that so." Tannin chuckled. "The kids are already going behind our backs 'Phisto. I tell ya, they'll be mating by thirteen at this rate. I've got to up my bet with Azazel."

"Now is not the time Tannin."

"Always the time Mephisto."

"What are you guys talking about?"

The two adults looked at Adrianna's confused face as Romulus looked away, blushing heavily.

"Nothing of importance Ms Lorelei, just a small wager. Now, since you have decided this I believe it is time to begin the ceremony."

The small group gathered as Romulus received his instructions on the resurrection ritual. Adrianna laid calmly on the floor, occasionally making a game out of blowing hair out of her face, while Tannin looked on amused as the girl went through the same process he had so long ago.

' _Still have to introduce him to those two, wonder what they'll all say when they see him.'_

* * *

Romulus Evil pieces:

1 x Mutation queen (x3) 3/3

2 x Mutation bishop (x2, x3) 5/6

2 x Mutation knight (x2, x3) 5/6

2 x Mutation rook (x2, x3) 5/6

1 x Bishop pawn (x1 bishop + x1 pawn) 1/6 bishop, 1/24 pawn

1 x Knight pawn (x1 knight + x1 pawn) 1/6 knight, 1/24 pawn

1 x Rook pawn (x1 rook + x1 pawn) 1/6 rook, 1/24 pawn

5 x Mutation pawn (x4, x 4, x 4, x4, x 5) 21/24

The theme of this story in my opinion is 'be prepared'. I've been playing Zelda Breath of the Wild for the past year and the idea of that game (Spoilers kind of but really who doesn't know this game?) is that you can either work your way up and prepare for your epic battle with Gannon or you can rush in and die. I feel most Shonen anime and anime in general just rushes in and relies on the Power of FRIENDSHIP to carry the day and I feel that is a big waste of story. In my opinion Highschool DxD, One Piece and Fairy Tail are some of the most guilty parties. (But don't get me started on Fairy Tail) I don't want to make that mistake which is why I like anime like Overlord so much. This will be similar but instead of starting off OP and trying to conquer the world all sneaky like Romulus will work his strength up to get his revenge. Also don't expect clear cut bad guys. I want this story to be somewhat like game of thrones which is why I've spent as much time as I have with the Maous. They are willing to do bad stuff but mostly for the greater good, and any selfish actions they take are not really threatening beyond temporarily hurting someone's pride. They are complex, which is what I wanted to get across with their meetings, personalities and dialogue.

Finally an update on how I will update. I will alternate between chapters of this and Brother of Amazons and each new chapter will only be posted when the next chapter of the other story is half done. For example this chapter is being released today because the next chapter of Brother of Amazons is either half or more than half done. The next chapter of BoA will be posted when the first half of chapter 7 of Titan of defense is finished, and so on and so forth. Any new fics will be worked on and then added into the queue.


	7. Chapter 7

Romulus dashed through a forrest, branches and twigs snapping under his feet as he went. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end a second before his instincts took over. Turning in the direction he had been running from he threw up his strongest shield. He was not a moment too soon as a blast of white energy slammed into the Titanius style magic circle.

The blast rocked the earth, levelling the surrounding area as the ground gave way beneath him. As the light faded Romulus could see that where there had once been smooth earth and wilderness there was now nothing more than a barren crater, with his spot being the only area that had not been flattened.

Romulus breathed a sigh of relief, unfurling his wings and taking to the sky as quickly as he could, barely dodging another blast that destroyed the position he'd occupied moments earlier. Getting above the tree-line he saw in the distance the opponent he'd been tasked to fight.

Adrianna Lorelei was one of his best friends, maybe even his best, but ever since he's reincarnated her into his queen less than a day ago she'd become his most challenging opponent.

She was definitely not the strongest, as powerful as his new queen was she had nothing on Tannin or Mephisto, who had sparred with Romulus on multiple occasions, but they had always measured their power, making themselves just powerful enough to challenge him without vastly outmatching their student. Adrianna was different.

Even as a human Adrianna was as powerful as Vali or himself, and with her incredibly expansive list of magical abilities she could even last for a while against both of them before she was overwhelmed, though that could be said about any of the three of them. The reason she hadn't dominated then as she was doing with him now was simply because as a human she didn't have the same magical strength as them. Now she was a devil, a being with far superior magical reserves and far more potent magic. Where once she'd have needed to cast a dozen spells to break his barriers now she only needed two or three.

And she didn't hold back.

His new queen came at him with all the power and enthusiasm of a being who was incredibly powerful and wanted to test their limits. A wonderful and exciting thing for Adrianna, a nightmarish survival exercise for him.

He could see her in the distance, a small dot close to a kilometer away from his position. She had been firing on him like an artillery cannon, testing out just how far her spells could harry him before they stopped being seriously damaging. So far this appeared to be on the upper end of her limit.

Romulus opened up a communication circle with his queen, a spell that although difficult at first he managed to get down enough that it didn't take more than a moment's concentration.

"You happy now?" He asked, voice haggard.

"Not quite." She said.

Romulus dove out of the way a split second before a lance of purple light arched past him, hitting a series of small hills in the distance. Romulus watched in awe and a healthy amount of fear as the top of one of the hills was severed and launched into the air by the force of Adrianna's magic. He turned back to his queen who was flying towards him with her new wings.

Like Romulus' wings Adrianna's were not the standard black, batwing-like appendages that most devils had. Alternatively her's were not the same as her King's, who's wings were metal bases with lengths of energy pouring like curtains from them.

Adrianna's wings were metal like Romulus' but that was as far as the similarities went. While only the bases of Romulus' wings were metal with lines and rivers of energy forming the remainder, Adrianna's were made completely of metal, but were considerably smaller than any other wings possessed by beings of the supernatural. That being said her wings didn't move or flap, instead they leaked out several streaming tendrils of pure magical energy that acted as controls, allowing flight.

Romulus had to say that the new wings suited her. They gave her an etherial look that seemed to add to her natural beauty, constantly providing a flattering light. He blushed as he thought that her smile was even more pretty than usual with her wings out.

"Were you trying to kill me?" He asked her.

"Maybe just a little." She responded, sticking out her tongue playfully.

"Alright, Alright, we can stop with the flirting, you two are done for the day."

The two children looked over to see Tannin and Mephisto descend down to their level.

"We weren't flirting." Romulus shouted at Tannin, who only responded by laughing. Hovering just in front of the Dragon, Mephisto coughed into his fist to get his wards' attention.

Romulus turned away from his trainer, instead looking at his guardian.

"Sorry Mr Mephisto." Romulus apologised, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "I guess we both got a little carried away."

"Both?" Tannin asked with a raised eyebrow. He glanced at the destroyed hill, which was already beginning to reform. "If we weren't inside a dimensional pocket built for rating games you two might end up levelling half the countryside."

"Sorry Lord Tannin." Adrianna bowed apologetically, her face tinged red with embarrassment. "I was just really excited, I've never felt so much magic before. I wanted to try it out."

"That is a good plan Ms. Lorelei." Said Mephisto. "But if you over exhaust yourself so soon after your reincarnation there may be serious damage to your magic system, there's a reason why most new devils are told not to use magic right away. I fact, didn't I tell you two to take it easy for the first week or so to make sure there were no complications? Especially with your Sacred Gear?"

"I get it Mr. Mephisto, it's just that-"

"I asked him, Lord Mephisto. Romulus was going to go and study but I really wanted to try out some of the spells I'd been researching. I didn't think it'd be that bad."

The old devil sighed. It seemed Tannin was right about the lady Lorelei having Romulus wrapped around her finger. Ever since her reincarnation he seemed unable to refuse her. Mephisto shook his head. Her reincarnation had been done just the day before, this was her only demand that he'd submitted to but if he knew Romulus and Adrianna's relationship it was starting to look like he'd been right to move up his bet with Azazel, Albion and Tannin.

"Be that as it may, I want you two to get back the manor, you may continue to study spells Ms. Lorelei but you are not to perform any serious training until we have made sure that your new body is settled."

The two children bowed their heads, acquiescing to their mentor's demands. Their wings flashed and in an instant both of them were flying away at top speeds to the exit to the small pocket dimension.

"Damn 'Phisto, you were right. That queen and her Longinus, she'll be damn near unstoppable. Did you see those spells?"

"I did. It's why I'm so concerned. No one has ever reincarnated a being using multiple queens, let alone a Longinus wielder. We don't know what kind of effect it'll have beyond what is normal for reincarnated devils."

"Like turning her into a god damn artillery cannon that shoots destruction spells."

"Yes Tannin, like that. Most queens can't fire that kind of magic from that far away, let alone a queen who's only been a devil for less than a day." Mephisto shook his head as the final repairs were made and the remnants of the destruction caused by Adrianna's spells were undone. "We'll need to train her to control herself."

"I'll move Romulus' routine up, maybe get him to drop his blacksmithing to make room for more training."

"A bit rash, don't you think my friend?"

"Girl's stronger than him, it's never good to have a piece that much stronger than the master."

"I highly doubt that Ms Lorelei will turn on Romulus."

"I hope not, but better safe than sorry."

"... Very well, move up his training but remember that a more rapid acceleration could trigger some negative consequences from his magic's chaotic nature. We don't want his body to destabilise. And leave his blacksmithing classes be. The trainers are quite pleased by his dedication, I doubt they'll be happy should one of their prized pupils be forced to withdraw."

"Fine."

The two began to fly after their young charges, though at a considerably slower pace.

"Have you talked to the candidates?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"They're eager to meet a devil with so much potential, though I wonder how they'll react when they see him."

"Dragons are prideful beings, especially the older ones, you fear when those two see he is a child they won't follow."

"They aren't the candidates."

Mephisto looked confused at his queen.

"Then who is?"

"That's a surprise 'Phisto."

"I don't like surprises my friend."

* * *

Romulus and Adrianna laid on a set of couches in Mephisto's private library, reading books about various forms of magic. Romulus still had some time before his blacksmithing lessons were meant to start and spending it helping out his queen seemed to be a nice way to kill some of the time.

"I wonder if I can use some of these norse shield spells?" He thought out loud as he read one of his mentor's books on defense spells.

"Do you know norse magic?"

"No."

"Then I don't think so, nose spells need norse magic. I bet I could use it."

"Probably, you can do anything, but I don't know... If I could use my heavenly power instead of norse magic maybe I could make my own versions of it."

"But then it wouldn't be a norse spell, it'd just be a heavenly spell that looked norse."

"But it'd work the same way, just with different magic."

"I guess."

"You two look very comfortable."

Mephisto and Tannin walked into the library, watching as Romulus laid upside down on a couch, his legs hanging off of the back, while Adrianna had selected her normal plush armchair/recliner.

"I am." Said Romulus, not taking his eyes off of his book.

"Me too." Adrianna agreed as she read through a new spell book.

"Well unfortunately we need you two to come with us, we have someone we'd like you to meet."

The two children shared a glance, confused.

"Who are we meeting?" Asked Romulus.

"An interested party." Replied Mephisto cryptically.

"What do they want?" Adrianna asked.

"Just to meet you two." Tannin said, ushering them out of their chairs and to the floor next to him.

"Are we teleporting?" Romulus asked his teacher.

"Just to the underworld station."

"Underworld station?"

"All new reincarnated devils have to be registered during their first trip to the underworld. If it was just you Romulus it wouldn't be a problem, but Ms Lorelei has not yet been registered as your queen in the official capacity."

"Ok, let's go."

The four gathered together, before they were engulfed in Mephisto's magic circle.

* * *

The group emerged in the center of a massive train station. Romulus had to move out of the way to avoid being hit by a pedestrian who was looking at his watch instead of where he was walking.

"Mr Mephisto... we're in a train station."

"We are Romulus."

"Why are we in a train station?"

"To catch a train."

"But what about the people, won't they notice us? Mr Tannin is a twenty foot dragon. Why aren't they running and screaming?"

"Magic, Romulus."

"Oh."

"Come on, we can probably catch the next train to Lilith, I think it leaves in a few minutes." Tannin said, him and Mephisto leading their little group through the crowded terminal. Adrianna and Romulus looked around, staring at the high ceiling.

"Where are we anyway?" Adrianna asked.

"Gare de Nord." Said Mephisto, turning back to the two as Tannin walked up to a large wall. "It's the busiest train station in Europe. When the current Satans started instituting the registration of newly reincarnated devils they placed a connection to the underworld on each continent to allow for easier transport and less backlog of devils hoping to register their peerages. This is Europe's connection to the underworld and because of the high volume of supernatural beings using it humans eventually formed their own transportation systems on top of it. It's the same with the portals on each of the other continents."

"Wow."

"Come you two, I believe Tannin has secured our seats."

The three walked over to the massive dragon, who seemed to have just finished talking with a man at a counter.

"Tannin." Mephisto called. "Have you sorted it all out?"

"Of course I did. We're good to go on the next train, and I've had them hook up the Titanius family cars so we can ride in style."

"Titanius family cars?" Romulus asked. He hadn't heard of anything like that.

"Ah, we never told you did we." Mephisto said, stroking his chin. "As one of the largest extra-demon families the Titanius' were very well connected. Even without officially being part of the main underworld government they managed to use their political pull to obtain many of their benefits form themselves and their allies. I heard that one of the subordinate families under yours is almost on the verge of recreating the evil piece system for the extra-demons."

"So I didn't even need to register under the Maous?"

"I said they were on the verge of recreating it Romulus. With how long they've been working on it that might be as close as a year far away as a decade, either way not soon enough for our purposes."

"Oh, that's to bad then, I guess."

"Now then, let's get on the train shall we? We have places to be and people to meet." The four made their way through the station, the two young ones following the leads of their older mentors. The platform they arrived at was full of people, mostly younger ones, with adults accompanying them.

"Wow." Adrianna looked in awe of the dozens and hundreds of others on the platform. "Are all of these people reincarnated devils?"

"Not all of them." Mephisto said. "Most of the young ones you see are devils with peerages and are bringing them to the underworld for the first time. Most young devils are encouraged to recruit young so as to form strong bonds with their peerage members, it lessens the chances of them becoming strays."

"Strays?" Romulus asked.

"Devils who leave or kill their master." Tannin told them, casting a suspicious eye over the hoard of demons that had turned to look at him the moment their group had arrived. "Stray devils are the kinds who lose themselves to their desires and sins, warping them into monsters worse than any devil."

Adrianna looked out over the sea of faces.

"So, no devil can ever leave their master?" She asked. "What about if they have a family or find another master?"

"Oh, Devils can leave their masters." Mephisto said to the young girl. "It just usually happens later in a devil's life. normally they stay with their masters for a few years or decades and then go off and form their own families, or peerages if they achieve the necessary rank, but they usually stay under the employ of the master who reincarnated them."

Mephisto gestured to Tannin.

"Tannin here is technically a part of my peerage but has his own and operates more independently from me than as my representative. Still he is considered a member of my peerage and is thus compelled to come to my aid when called by the contract we formed upon his resurrection."

As he finished talking there was an announcement over the intercom on the platform.

"Dear passengers, the one-forty-five train to Lilith is now boarding at platform one, we hope you enjoy your time with us and we hope to see you again soon. Have a nice trip and have a good day."

As the announcement cut off the closed train doors opened and a number of devils entered into the main cars alongside their chaperones. Romulus and Adrianna walked towards the nearest set of doors to them before they were stopped by Tannin.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Tannin chuckled.

"In the train." Adrianna said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Not yet you two." Tannin told him, bringing them back to where Mephisto was patiently standing.

"Mr Mephisto, Tannin won't let us get on the train, we're gonna miss it."

"We won't Romulus, because this isn't our train, or at least our part of it." Mephisto just eyed the train.

"What do you mean our part of it?" He asked.

"Dear passengers, this is the last call for the boarding of coach, business and first class sections of the train, repeat, last call for boarding for coach, business and first class."

"Come on Mr Mephisto we're going to miss it."

"Hold on Romulus, patience is a virtue."

"I thought we were devils."

"We are Ms Lorelei, but patience is a virtue amongst devils as well as angels, really all living beings should learn of its value."

"Dear passengers, boarding for coach, business and first class have all ended. We will now proceed with boarding for the clan cars."

"Clan cars?" Adrianna and Romulus asked together.

Mephisto and Tannin shook their heads in exasperation.

"I told you both to be patient. I was waiting for you to notice the other devils who haven't yet boarded."

The two looked around, and sure enough, they had been so focused on possibly missing the train that they hadn't noticed numerous devils who also hadn't entered the imitation locomotive.

The PA system came back on.

"We would now like to announce the arrival and boarding of the clan cars for the houses of Astaroth, Paimon, Beleth, Barbatos and Titanius. He hope you have a pleasant ride."

"Now we can board." Mephisto said, walking with Tannin onto the silvery-grey cars.

Romulus and Adrianna watched the two disappear into the car, before turning and watching the remaining devils, now numbering somewhere a little under two dozen, enter into four other coloured cars.

Within moments they were the only two people left on the platform.

"Wow." Adrianna said.

"What?" Romulus turned to her inquisitively.

"I knew your family was important, but I guess, this really makes it feel real."

"The train cars?"

"No you idiot." She huffed. "They put your family name beside members of the 72 pillars. I read about them, they're a huge deals. I guess before I just never really... saw that."

"I guess, come on, we don't want to miss the train."

The two rushed up onto the silver car with the Titanius clan symbol on the side. Once inside the two saw that the entire car was a stylish and spacious lounge area, complete with couches, tables and a bar, which Mephisto was behind shaking some drink while Tannin was sitting on one of the large couches eating some kind of fruit and relaxing.

"Ah." Mephisto caught the two coming through the doorway. "You two finally came aboard, I thought that you two might stand out on the platform until one of the attendants got you to stop holding up the departure."

"They wouldn't stop everything just for us... right?" Adrianna said.

"You two are the only devils left of the Titanius clan, I am quite sure half the underworld would go out of their way to help you if it meant gaining some kind of support."

Romulus and Adrianna looked around at the lavish car they'd been given.

"So, how long is the ride?" Asked Romulus.

"About half an hour, after that we'll just need to put Ms Lorelei through the registration process and she can travel in and out of the underworld without a problem."

"Then we take you two over to my territory to meet the new recruits." Tannin said, having just finished his fruit.

"Your territory Mr Tannin?" Romulus asked before his eyes began to sparkle. "So we're gonna meet some dragons? Are they going to join us?"

Adrianna stiffened slightly beside Romulus while Tannin chuckled.

"Only if they think you're strong enough for them to obey you kid. dragons don't let people give them orders unless their strong enough to force those orders through, so you probably won't be getting and of the older dragons to join you."

"Oh." Romulus looked downcast.

Tannin ruffled the boy's hair, drawing a giggle from Adrianna as Romulus struggled under his mentor's grip.

"But some of the younger dragons might join up. In fact it'd be better to recruit younger dragons, they can grow in strength alongside you and if they achieve the rank of Ultimate-class devil, they can even gain a portion of the underworld's land for themselves. It's the the reason I joined old 'Phisto over there."

"Really?" Adrianna asked.

"Indeed Ms Lorelei." Mephisto said, sitting at one of the tables with a drink in his hand. "Tannin became my queen and and Ultimate-class devil in order to gain land in the Underworld. He used that land as a sanctuary for dragons and an orchard to grow the dragon apple trees to feed his people. If you similarly achieve the rank of Ultimate-class, you'll receive your own piece of the Titanius clan lands. from Romulus or an allotted plot from the devil ranking commission, in fact any devil who reaches Ultimate-class gains such privilege."

"Wow, so... I could build a house, or a giant magic ground? And no one could say no?"

"As long as you have the resources to finance such a venture, yes."

"Oh!" Romulus yelled. "You could build a giant amusement park, and you'd get to cut all the lines and go first on all the rides."

"Or maybe a library like Lord Mephisto's." Adrianna's eyes sparkled. "I could get all the books I want and no one but me could read them."

"Or maybe a castle like back home, with a lake and a forest and you can be a real queen."

The two continued to trade ideas back and forth about what to do with her land. On another couch just opposite the two Tannin and Mephisto watched the two enthusiastically debate.

"They're so sure she's gonna be an Ultimate-class."

"Aren't you?"

"Well of course, That girl might well become the strongest queen in existence. Not even Grayfia or Serafall were that strong at that age, but they shouldn't be so sure about it."

"I don't believe they don't understand the full ramifications of it yet."

"Well they'd better learn quick if they keep talking about ideas like that."

"Romulus could always just give her the land without her needing to be promoted."

"I know people like those two, If they don't feel like they've earned it, it's not as satisfying."

"A true Titanius."

"Right, so... how much you wanna bet those two tie the knot."

"I'm already thirty-thousand in on their kissing sometime after they turn thirteen... I'm not partial to making bets I'm confident I won't win."

"Damn, I've been trying to find someone dumb enough to take it, Azazel, Albion, even the white dragon brat Vali, all of them tell me it's a fool's bet."

"It is Tannin, and none of us are fools."

"Yeah Yeah."

The group spent the next half hour relaxing in their train car, Mephisto and Tannin discussing various things amongst themselves that neither of the two young devils thought were important enough to listen to. It was an uneventful trip, until the PA system came on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have now crossed the dimensional gap into the underworld. If you look out your windows you will see below us the territory under the command of the house of Astaroth, and in a few minutes, we will arrive at the underworld capitol of Lilith."

Adrianna and Romulus rushed towards the windows, looking out to experience the view.

Below the train, the massive capitol of the underworld was spread out in all of its glory. It was leagues larger than any human city, easily stretching out as far as the eye could see in any direction.

"Impressive, isn't it." Mephisto said, getting both of the children's attentions. "The city of Lilith is by far the biggest in all of the underworld. In fact just this city is larger than the amount of land most of the pillars hold individually. The only main underworld family to possess more land is the Baels."

"Wow, I didn't know cities could be this big, does it go all the way to the ocean?"

"There are no oceans here Romulus."

"What do you mean?"

"The underworld isn't like the human world Romulus, up there, only one third of the world is above the sea level. In the underworld there are no oceans, just a series of large lakes that are land locked."

"That's kind of sad, so there's no beaches or boats or anything?"

Mephisto chuckled.

"There are, many of the lakes are quite large, One of them; called Lake Rhea in your family's territory is half the size of the indian sub-continent, it's just that none of them are so large to qualify as an ocean."

The train began a sharp descent, though it wasn't felt by those on the train, and soon enough they had stopped at a platform identical to the one in the human world.

"We have arrived at Lilith's European station. We hope you have enjoyed your ride with us and look forward to serving you again soon."

The doors of their car opened up, letting the group file out. Romulus and Adrianna marvelled at the grandeur of even the station they had pulled in to.

The place was by far larger than the Gare de Nord. The high ceilings housed murals depicting what looked like a very short history of devil kind, most likely to introduce new devils to the history of the underworld.

Adrianna and Romulus walked alongside their mentors towards a line of devils that had queued. They stayed in the line for a while, moving slowly along the line.

"Mr Mephisto, why are we waiting?" Romulus asked, looking out down the queue which split off and ended at several plain-looking doors.

"I told you Romulus, as it is your first time in the Underworld with Ms Lorelei, you will need to register her with the rating games comity."

"Got it, but why do we have to wait in a line, can't we just tell them to register her?"

"Some things can't be rushed, Romulus." Mephisto said. "Besides, the rating game comity is supposed to be an independent organization, no special treatment it allowed. They couldn't let us ahead even if they wanted to, it'd be a obvious sign of favouritism."

"So we'll have to wait."

"You'll have to wait Romulus, Tannin and I are going to go and get something to eat. Meet us at La Diable in the meeting area."

"Wait, Mephisto, you can't leave us here." Romulus called out, but the old devil just walked off, waving to them mischievously, with Tannin following behind giving them a smirk.

"Great." Romulus huffed, turning to Adrianna. "So, anything you want to do while we wait?"

"We can't practice magic." Adrianna bemoaned. "And I didn't bring any books, this is gonna be so boring."

"Are you Romulus Titanius?" A voice asked.

The two devils turned to look at the older girl that was standing in front of them.

"Um, yeah, that's me."

"Wow, I heard that you pulled out a peerage made of mutation pieces. How'd you do it?"

"Um, just lucky I guess." Romulus rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm Seekvaira Agares, I'm just here to register my first peerage member. Alivian, this is Romulus Titanius."

"Hello."

Romulus and Adrianna looked at Seekvaira's piece.

He was a dragon.

Alivian wasn't as big as Tannin was when he was amongst other, and compared to how the Dragon would look during training he was minuscule, but for the two almost ten year olds the young dragon's five foot nine frame was certainly quite intimidating.

"Hi." Romulus shook off his nervousness and gave the dragon a cheerful and friendly greeting. "I'm Romulus, and this is Adrianna, she's my queen."

Alivian smiled at Adrianna, holding out his hand to shake her's.

"Nice to meet you Adrianna, I'm also a queen."

"You too."

The two newly reincarnated devils shook hands, smiling at each other.

"They seem to like each other."

Romulus turned to see Seekvaira looking at the two with a pleasant expression. Romulus in response just smiled and nodded.

"I guess."

The line moved forward again, and Romulus and Seekvaira found themselves ushered down different lines with their new queens in tow.

"It was nice meeting you." Seekvaira called out, waving to them.

"You too." Romulus called back.

"Nice meeting you Alivian!" Adrianna said, smiling at the dragon.

"I hope we can meet again soon." Alivian replied, his loud voice having no problem carrying to the two of them.

Romulus and Adrianna waited for another few minutes, making conversation about their newest acquaintances and Adrianna's upcoming registration. It wasn't long before they found themselves in front of the door of the registration officer.

"Next." A voice came from behind the door, which prompted the two to walk through and find themselves face to face with a young looking man wearing glasses who sat at a desk with a pen in his hand and a somewhat tired look on his face.

"Name of King." He droned.

Adrianna and Romulus exchanged looks, it seemed the man wasn't going to be all that friendly.

"Romulus Titanius."

The man's face rose an inch from where he'd been staring; down at the paper without looking at them.

"So it's true, the early admission." Unlike most who seemed in awe of that fact the man just seemed frustrated. "I wonder how much paperwork was needed to make that happen."

"Um, is this part of the registration?" Asked Adrianna.

The man turned to look at the young girl. His face relaxed as he let our a sigh.

"My apologies miss. Just tired, but you're right, that was hardly appropriate. Name of the piece and name of the subject of reincarnation?"

"Queen, and Adrianna Lorelei."

"Very well."

"Date of reincarnation."

"Yesterday."

The man looked at the two.

"Quite quick."

"My mentor wanted to take us here, so we thought we'd register her on the way."

The man nodded sagely.

"Right, right. Always good to get them registered early, makes things easier on everyone."

He placed a crystal and a paper form on the table in front of him.

"Please channel and store your magical energy in there and fill out the form, after that we'll register you and provide you with a temporary underworld ID card and send your permanent copy to the address you provide on the form."

Adrianna and Romulus looked over the form, it asked for a few details, like date of birth, full name, address, and a bunch of other things that they filled in together. Adrianna then grabbed the crystal and channeled her new demonic power into it, making it light up for a few moments. She put the crystal on the table with the completed form, which the man took and filed in a small folder. Afterwards he pulled out a small white card and stamped it before handing it over to Adrianna.

"Thank you, you're both free to head on through. The man pointed to a door on the other side of the room. "Have a good day and remember to register any new pieces as soon as possible."

The two thanked the man and walked out into the open air food court that made up the other side of the registration desk.

"Wow." Adrianna looked back between the door, the food court and her new ID.

"What?" Romulus asked her.

"My ID." She told him. "There's no picture."

"Really?" He asked, looking over her shoulder at the card. Sure enough, though there was a square where a picture would have been, it instead only had a pattern that seemed to change color as they moved it.

"It's your magic." Romulus muttered, looking at the card.

"What?" Adrianna asked this time.

"I can sense your magic coming from the card."

"Does that help?" She asked.

"Don't know." He shrugged. "But we can ask Mephisto and Tannin when we see them, they said to meet us at La Diable. I wonder where that is?"

"Is that the place?"

Adrianna was pointing at a building a couple dozen meters from them, it was built and decorated beautifully with red french designs but was obviously sporting a more occult look. The two young devils walked up to a man who was manning the door.

"Um, excuse me."

The man looked over his counter at the two but didn't speak, only raising an eyebrow.

"Are you two lost?" He asked, though his voice was haughty. "Perhaps you can tell me what dinning establishment you wandered off from and I can get someone to help you look."

"It's this place." Romulus said to the man, frowning. If there was one thing he didn't like, it was being talked down to. Adrianna seemed to share his sentiment because she too glared at the man.

"I think not." The older man replied with a wave of his hand. "Our establishment is one of the foremost providers of fine demonic cuisine from across Europe, certainly not the place for two children."

"We're here to meet our guardians." Adrianna interrupted her her King before he could shout. "Lord MephistoPheles and Lord Tannin."

It was a fascinating thing, watching bewilderment, recognition and terror appear all at one on the man's face as he looked at the two children he now knew to be under the care of such a devil as Mephisto.

"Of course." He amended himself with a falsely wide smile. The man ushered them into the restaurant, guiding them through the myriad of tables over to a table at the back of the restaurant.

"Lord Mephisto." The waiter said, a nervous tick showing when he glanced down at the two children. "Your guests have arrived."

"Ah, Romulus, Adrianna." The old devil beckoned them to come and sit, which they did.

"Thank you." Mephisto addressed the man, who seemed more than happy to get out of their way.

"How'd it go runts?" Tannin asked the two.

"Great." Romulus said. "They just had us fill out a form and then Adrianna had to put some magic into a stone and they gave us an ID with her magic on it, but there's no picture."

"Why isn't there a picture?" Adrianna asked the older beings, bringing out her new ID and placing it on the table. "All IDs in the human world have them."

"Transformation magic Adrianna." Mephisto said, as if that explained everything. "Transformation magic allows anyone to look like anyone else. A photo ID would be quite useless when someone else can just copy your face. A magical signature on the other hand cannot be faked save by the greatest of stealth magicians. In a world that uses magic it's far easier to recognise people by their magic than their looks."

"Never mind that." Tannin said. "Now that their done we can head to the forests and get Romulus some more pieces."

Mephisto nodded, getting up from his seat. "I believe we've waited long enough. Come you two, It is time."

The group together got up from their places, disregarding the fact that none of them had ordered or eaten anything, and walked right out of the restaurant and into the New Devil Underworld faction.

* * *

A Black teleportation circle appeared, a forest filled with sound quieted, and four figures emerged from the glow into the territory of a dragon king.

"It's a little different than I remember." Romulus said. It was true, the forest was more vibrant, and the trees were brimming with delicious looking fruit.

"Back then, there was an infestation of scavengers." Tannin explained. "Dragon apples taste terrible to anything not a dragon but that doesn't make them any less nutritious. I spent months rooting out those damn pests. But thankfully since then the trees have been blooming better than ever, and more dragons than ever before have come to live here."

"It's beautiful." Adrianna whispered in awe. "I can feel the magic here."

"The underworld is made of magic Ms. Lorelei." Mephisto explained. "You'll get used to it eventually, or you'll have a psychotic episode."

"Bah, enough talk." Tannin roared. "Barren, Mizuchi come out, bring your clans."

At his call dragons of all shapes and sizes came out of the forest, seeming to appear out of the woodwork and before long, Romulus could see surrounding them was a mass of reptilian mythical creatures.

"Woah." Romulus looked around and spotted Adrianna doing the same.

As the two examined their surroundings they noticed two large dragons emerge from the sea of scales.

"You've summoned us Lord Tannin."

Looking at the two Romulus' eyes widened in recognition. The two dragons who had emerged where the same two he had seen fighting the same day he'd escaped the Maou's attack on his home. Despite this he could see differences in the two. Both of them had scars littering their forms, the most prominent being a long scar on Mizuchi's snout and one running along the right side of Barren's broad chest.

"You two have been fighting for nearly three years now, I want you to bury your feud."

"Impossible!" "Lord Tannin!"

The two great dragons exclaimed to the dragon king, behind them, their packs chattered and grumbled, many with rage and indignation, but a few let out murmurs of excitement.

"All of you quiet, you'd do well to remember who owns these lands."

The two sides immediately stilled, each and every one of them terrified of disobeying the sole provider of the Dragon Apples.

"Be that as it may Lord Tannin." Mizuchi exclaimed. "I will not make peace with that bastard. My mate's death at his hands must be avenged!"

"Your mate's death!?" Barren retorted. "The dragon apple forest was in the middle of an infestation, everyone's trees but your's were picked clean by them and you and your mate would not give a single apple to others who were starving! You act as if we had any choice in the matter, it was to take what we needed to survive or let ourselves and our children die."

There was a roar of approval from Barren's camp and Romulus found himself nervously watching as the hostilities of the two factions rose with each roar and growl.

"ENOUGH!" Tannin's raging voice drowned out the force of the arguing sides. "I won't allow this any longer. In order to stop this feud, I will be taking one of each of your children as apprentices under my tutelage. Perhaps this will get you to stop fighting and let some form of peace be established."

All the dragons on either side turned to the two leaders, it was a transparent 'gift'. Whichever children the dragons gave up to Tannin would learn under him yes, but they'd also be hostages to be used should any violence break out between the two factions in the territory. Both Mizuchi and Barren exchanged glances, it seemed neither of them was happy with the plan, but even with all of them together, Tannin was a dragon king and a powerful force, not to be trifled with.

Begrudgingly, the two replied.

"Very well." "Fine."

"I'll be back in a few weeks to pick up your chosen children, in the meantime I want all of you to meet someone, come forward boy."

Romulus gulped nervously, but stepped forward until he stood in front of Tannin.

"This is Romulus Titanius, he is here to see if any of you are worthy of becoming a part of his peerage."

That was confusing to the young devil. Tannin had told him that he'd be trying to impress them in hopes of some of them asking to join, now it seemed like they were the ones having to prove themselves to him.

"Mr. Tannin." He asked. "What're you-"

"I understand Romulus." Tannin cut him off. "But we must see if any of them are worthy of joining your side. What do you say Mizuchi? Barren? Care to try your luck?"

The two great beasts looked down at Romulus, observing him with slitted, reptilian eyes.

"I smell strong magic from him." Mizuchi said, thoughtfully.

"It's chaotic, a good match for a dragon." Barren seemed to agree.

"But is he strong enough?" Mizuchi wondered aloud.

"Strong enough for you maybe, but not for my kind." Barren insulted both Romulus and the female dragon who was his rival.

"Grrrr." Mizuchi growled back.

"Enough of your childish fighting." Tannin ordered. "Any who wish it may challenge my pupil's strength."

"I will." A voice called out from the crowd.

"Dreki." Barren addressed the young dragon who came from the crowd. "You?"

"Yes father." The young dragon puffed up his chest to look larger. "I'll prove our strength is greater than those eastern dragons."

"Ha! A dragon amongst dragons." "Go Dreki." "Show those easterners who's boss." There was a chorus of cheers amongst the dragon's in Barren's camp, who Romulus now recognised as being made mostly of western dragons.

"I'll fight too." Another voice rose, also a male but this time from Mizuchi's side.

"Fubuki!?" Mizuchi called out, surprised.

"The western dragons claim such strength. I'd see it for myself."

"Ha." Barren laughed. "At least your young do not appear so soft as you, Mizuchi."

"Very well." Tannin said. "You two may face my pupil. It'll be a free-for-all." Whoever is the last man standing wins. Agreed?"

"Yes sir." All three agreed with the aged dragon. Off to the side, Adrianna and Mephisto were sharing an exasperated look.

"Romulus." She said, walking up next to him.

"Um, what's up Ari?" He asked, nervousness colouring his voice.

"Don't do anything stupid, idiot."

"O-ok." Romulus blushed slightly.

"Let's go kid." Tannin pushed Romulus over to a large space the dragons of both sides had made for the fight. On either side was Dreki and Fubuki, while Romulus took up a position in between them.

"Three...two...one...Fight!" Tannin yelled, and and in an instant both of the young dragons charged towards each other and Romulus.

Fubuki arrived first, being slightly faster than Dreki, and found himself engaged in a fight with the young devil. The eastern dragon with his relatively shorter arms and longer body found himself off-put by the heir's styles. Romulus himself had learned many form of fighting over his time training under Tannin, but found himself most successful with the forms of Aikido and Hung Gar.

As a Titanius, defense was his strong point, and though through his three years of training he was proficient in many forms, he had found that two of those forms, hybridised to form something new, were where his talents lied.

Romulus ducked quickly as he felt the air rush past him. Dreki's punch would have knocked him out cold had it landed and he'd been caught unawares. Instead his strike hit Fubuki in the midsection, sending the eastern dragon falling backwards and his tail's swipe attack off course, slashing across Dreki's exposed torso.

Romulus didn't hesitate for a moment, he grabbed Fubuki's tail, stopping the dragon before he could be sent further back. Instead he swung his body around to send the young eastern beast's form slamming into Dreki's surprised, retreating form.

The two dragons slammed together, sending them both crashing to the ground several meters away. Both of them pushed the other off of themselves, growling they got ready and unconsciously charged the devil together.

Fubuki's longer body swam through the air around him, striking at him from all angles as the boy's tail tried over and over to pierce Romulus' defense. Alternatively, Dreki spent much more time in close quarters. His much more humanoid and solidly proportioned body took my hits well and dished them out as frequently as they were taken.

As time went on blows continued to be exchanged. The two dragons together came at the young devil, who was weaving past their strikes and blocking attacks while sending out the occasional punch or kick to disrupt the flow of battle.

"That's enough." Tannin's voice cut through the air and with a quick weave past a hard punch launched by Dreki Romulus jumped and twirled out of the foray, leaving the other two dragons panting on the other side of the field.

"Well done Romulus." Tannin praised his student. Turning to the two dragon factions that stood apart from each other he addressed the leaders. "I'll be back before the end of the month to take whichever of your children you choose to place in my tutelage. Come Romulus, it's time for us to go."

The dragon and devil walked back over to Mephisto and Adrianna as the eastern and western dragon factions parted and retreated back into the forests of the territory.

Romulus walked with Tannin over to Mephisto, who was reading a scroll he'd pulled out while the fight had been going on.

"Mr. Mephisto." Romulus complained. "You weren't watching."

"Apologies Romulus, I received a rather urgent and distressing letter."

"What happened?"

"The Phenex family has moved up your match with the young Lord Riser. It is to take place in two days' time."

"Those cheats." Tannin growled and seethed. "They know he's looking for peerage members so they want to move up the date to cripple him."

"Most likely but that does not mean they will succeed. Romulus, did either Fubuki or Dreki feel like good additions to your peerage? We may need to rush their reincarnation."

"I don't think so Mr. Mephisto." Romulus answered. "I don't think they could work together. Even though I was stronger than them they didn't try to work together or anything."

"Hm."

"That's not good, we were counting on you having more pieces before this fight kid."

Romulus' face took on a determined look.

"It doesn't matter." He said. "Adrianna and I can win this with just the two of us."

"Romulus." Mephisto, Tannin and Romulus turned to look at Adrianna, who looked worriedly at the ground. "What if we can't?"

"We will." He said with determination.

"You don't have a choice." Mephisto informed him. "Come, it seems that Ms. Lorelei's hiatus from training will have to be cut short. We will need to ensure you are both fully prepared."

Together the group teleported away, out of the underworld and back home to the holdings of the Magician's Association, ready to begin training more intensely than ever before. Defeat was unacceptable, and victory a necessity.

* * *

Damn, new longest chapter. It dethrones Brother of Wonder Woman chapter 6 by just four words, not including author's note. I hope you enjoy and sorry for the delay all June. I just moved to Germany and I have been busy settling in. Hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner and the new story poll I hope many of you are voting on will close soon so get in there.

I know many will be wondering about why Romulus didn't reincarnate the two dragons after fighting them since he needs pieces but I already have it all planned out and Dragons are not going to be his next pieces. To give a hint I hope most people won't understand his next pieces will be from the Mac Roich family. (Anyone who knows who this is without google gets a cookie)

Like Romulus' wings Adrianna's come from Diablo but her's are more similar to Tyrael's, the difference is that Adrianna's wings have tendrils of various colours, symbolising her omni-talents in magic. All of Romulus' Peerage members will have wings like Tyrael while Romulus' are like Imperius, denoting his status as king and their's as pieces.

You will see some more of Fubuki and Dreki in later chapters. For information Dreki is the oldest son of Barren's latest clutch and has two younger brothers and two younger sisters. The name Dreki is the old nordic word for dragon which I liked.

Fubuki means blizzard in Japanese and Mizuchi is a water dragon as well as a descriptor for an entire type of dragon in Japanese mythology. Fubuki has a younger sister and three younger brothers.

Also the bets on Romulus and Adrianna love life amongst the two of them are:

 **Albion** : Kissing: Before 13, Mating: Before 15

 **Azazel** : Kissing: Before 11, Mating: After 15

 **Tannin** : Kissing: Before 14, Mating: After 14

 **Mephisto** : Kissing: After 13, Mating: After 16

 **Total Pool** : Kissing: €100,000 Mating: €200,000 (They live in Europe- Germany to be specific, I said so in an earlier chapter- so it's in euro)

 **RedSS (Loyal Reviewer):** Kissing: Before 14: N/A,

Speaking of Pools and bets I'm hosting one (Segway) It's a poll about which of two ideas I should post next. Poll will close the day after this chapter is posted and the first chapter of the winning story will be posted after the next chapter of BOW.


	8. Chapter 8

I really wanted to write this. It's the big climax of the first arc and is something I've been strategising about for a while: How to get around the Phenex without holy water or a cross. Because lets face it that's the only reason Issei stood any chance against Riser, and Romulus and Adrianna won't have access to that kind of cop-out. I wondered for a while when while re-reading some of the light novel for ideas and the anime to choreograph some fight scenes. I found a loophole. I won't give it away but its very reminiscent of another fun trick from another popular anime that I like.

* * *

Romulus couldn't see the crowd, he couldn't hear the crowd, but he could feel the crowd. It was there, just beyond the boundaries of the pocket dimension used for the game.

Thousands of devils from all across the underworld, along with representatives from every faction even remotely related to death or the afterlife was here. He'd heard from Mephisto that everyone from Hades to Ah Puch to Yama had come to witness his first 'unofficial' appearance in the underworld's most famous sport.

He remembered how he had been just before entering the field. He and Adrianna had been led to a waiting room by one of Mephisto's servants and left there to discuss strategy against their opponents, not that they had much to discuss. The two of them had long since decided on their strategy based on the limited information they had on Riser's peerage.

Beside him. Adrianna looked about as nervous as he felt. Her eyes were darting all around the large amphitheatre that they had been placed into and told was their main base. Romulus grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through her's and tried to help give her some strength, though her sweaty palm wasn't making it easy.

"I guess this is it?" She asked, looking out over the field they had been assigned.

"Yeah." Romulus replied awkwardly.

"What should we do?" She turned to look at him.

"Why are you asking me?" He asked, stunned.

"It was your plan." She accused. "I thought you'd have some kind of idea."

"I guess. Just keep a look out for anyone that's coming this way, I'll set up some barriers."

The two parted ways, Adrianna brought out her wings to go and search the area for any intruders while Romulus began to create a series of defences to guard their newly assigned territory. Briefly, he wondered back to the beginning of the whole mess that was their unprepared plan, really if was all the Phenex's faults.

* * *

 **48 hours earlier**

The large magic circle appeared in the center of Mephisto's private library, depositing the group where immediately Mephisto walked over to a large set of double doors.

"I want all the information available on Riser Phenex's peerage on the double." He slammed the doors and walked over to his desk.

"What do we do Mr. Mephisto?" Romulus asked looking imploringly at his teacher.

"We make do Romulus. We will have to quickly educate Ms. Lorelei on the procedures of the rating games and put further recruiting on hold. We won't be able to get anyone of note on such short notice."

"They can't actually change the date like that can they?" Tannin asked, looking over the scroll.

"They can. The previous month was a courtesy. Now that they know we are recruiting they've cut the time as much as possible."

"At least we have two days." Romulus tried to find a silver lining.

"Yes." Mephisto sighed. "I suspect that Lord Phenex couldn't move the date any further forward without drawing the ire of the other guest that will be in attendance."

"Other guests? What other guests?" Asked Adrianna.

"A game of this significance won't be unattended Ms Lorelei. Should Romulus make it through this ordeal with his marriage hand unclaimed then other potential seekers will have an idea of Romulus and your strength and plan accordingly."

"Can't we just get someone to join us just this once?" Romulus asked.

"Temporary peerage placements are not allowed Romulus. Only those linked to the peerage by a piece can compete for a team."

"So lets put them through the ringer Mephisto. They'll need all the training they can get if they want to make it through this and win."

"Right, Romulus, Adrianna, go with Tannin to the rating game training field, you two will be working night and day for the next two days if we want to get you through this."

With those final words exchanged, the massive dragon had taken the two young children into the rating game field to train. And true to their mentors' words, they had been trained harshly to be ready for their opponents.

Tannin took them out into the rating game arena that was kept in the castle grounds, a way for magicians from the association to practice more... explosive spells without real negative consequences. For the rest of the day the dragon king had trained the two into the ground, doing his best to prepare his students for the fight that lay ahead of them. The next day saw the continuation of their training, with the only break being one to devise a strategy to defeat the seemingly unbeatable Phoenix.

* * *

Since they had entered the game field, Romulus had spent most of his time thinking about whether or not his plan would work.

Romulus stood at the top of the amphitheatre, looking out towards where he knew Riser and his peerage were. Like Romulus's own base Riser had been placed in an amphitheatre, only his was colored in fiery red and orange as opposed to Romulus' deep purple and steel grey. The area between the two was made to look like a high-class ancient greek town, with marble white houses and ornate looking architecture.

Romulus watched as several long lines of magic flowed from their base all over the field. Invisible to all those who weren't part of his peerage they were remote defense spells meant to impede progress into one's territory.

"How's it all looking out there." Romulus turned to his queen from where she was standing.

"No attacks yet." He said. "I wonder what he'll do."

"He has two Pawn." She mused. "He'll want to Promote them so they'll definitely head this way but he won't send them alone. No one would send two Pawns against a Queen and a King. He's probably gonna go in full force and try to overwhelm us."

"And we can't stop him." Romulus frowned. "We don't have the numbers to attack head on. He has a Queen, a Bishop, a Rook and two Pawns, we'll have to stay on the defensive and try to pick them off one by one."

Adrianna frowned, looking out over the playing field.

"Wait." Her eyebrows scrunched in concentration. "Why do we have to stay?"

Romulus looked at her, confused.

"We can't let him have the base, he'd promote both his pawns and then we'd be against three Queens instead of one."

"By why does this have to be our base?"

"What?"

"Why don't we just get rid of it?"

"... I like the way you think."

"I know."

"I'll distract them, you do your thing."

* * *

In the stands, watching the match unfold, countless supernatural entities wondered about the strategy of the two as the King left his Queen in their base to attack their enemies head on.

"What in hell is the boy thinking?" Tannin complained to his own King, watching Romulus run into the forest.

"We'll see." Mephisto said with a smile.

"How are you so calm?" Tannin groused.

"I know what they're doing." Mephisto said simply.

"And what is that?" The dragon demanded.

"If your position is disadvantageous to you and advantageous to your enemy why have it in the first place?" The older devil didn't answer his queen, but instead posed a question.

"Yeah, yeah, their base isn't the best place to be, but if they don't guard it that Riser kid gets two free promotions."

"You misunderstand me Tannin, why have it at all? Why not deny both the advantage and the disadvantage?"

Tannin watched the screen, which was focused on Adrianna as she flew into the air and gathered magic into her hands. Slowly his eyes widened as he caught onto the plan.

"Ha, those two really are kids."

Together they watched as Adrianna Lorelei, Queen of Romulus Titanius, gathered a massive amount of magic.

* * *

Up in the Maou boxes, which sat parallel to the boxes of the other underworld rulers in attendance but distinct to allow privacy, the four Maous watched the match between the Titans and the Phoenixes.

"That girl's incredible." Sirzechs marvelled as Adrianna gathered power.

"You can see what they're doing?" Falbium asked his fellow Maous.

"Of course." Ajuka nodded, though even he seemed impressed by the power the newly reincarnated queen was putting out.

"They're going to beat those stupid chickens in one attack!" Serafall cheered.

"Hm, most definitely." Sirzechs agreed.

"That spell most definitely would destroy young lord Riser's whole peerage, but not the king himself, and with Romulus there he'd be taken out along with the enemies, and with Riser still on the field and Romulus retired the match would be over." Ajuka refuted his fellow Maou's ideas.

"Then what?" Asked Serafall.

"I believe we're about to find out." Falbium nodded towards the screen, which had changed to show the side of the Phenexs.

* * *

Out in the forest Riser Phenex moved cautiously but quickly through the field towards his enemies base.

Truthfully Riser didn't want to be here. Winning meant this kid would be marrying his sister and he didn't want that. He didn't want anyone marrying his precious little sister. Still the honor of the Phenex clan was on the line -at least according to his father- and he definitely didn't want to do anything to bring shame upon his house.

So with his reasonably small peerage he slowly sneaked across the divide. The Titanius might have thought he was clever, using invisible shield spells to block his way, but any skilled sensor could see his magic from a mile away and though Mihae wasn't the best as magic sensing she was skilled enough that they hadn't come into contact with any of their enemy's protection.

"We're coming up on it now." Yubelluna said, preparing a magic circle.

Riser smiled. His queen had found a rather exceptional talent with explosion magic, a favorite complementary magic to the Phenexs. His family had been quite happy when he'd introduced his first piece.

"Wait." Mihae warned the group, stopping abruptly. Yubelluna and Isabela were able to dig their heels into the dirt and stop themselves in time to avoid whatever their fellow peerage member had sensed but Marion and Burent skidded just enough to slide into the defensive barrier that stood invisibly before them.

"Mihae." Marion complained, rubbing her head. "Why didn't you warn us about this earlier?"

"Because I only just set this one up." A voice came from behind a nearby tree.

With a snap on her fingers Yubelluna made the tree explode, sending bark, branches and debris all over. Riser's peerage were saved from being pelted only by the large magic circle the King erected between his pieces and the blast.

"Did I get him?" Yubelluna asked, slightly fearful. The surprise of the moment lead the Queen piece to put quite a bit more power into her spell than was strictly necessary and for a moment she wondered if she'd seriously wounded their opponent.

"Not yet." Romulus said again. Surrounding the younger devil was a large dome of magic which was pulsing an angry red.

"Get him!" Riser shouted, throwing twin blasts of fire magic at the young Titanius.

Romulus responded by lowering his shield and jumping out the way. The two fireballs sailed harmlessly past the airborne boy, who performed a neat flip to dodge another blast of magic, this time from Riser's Bishop. He landed less than a foot from Riser himself, punching the young noble hard and sending him skidding across the ground before rushing at astonishing speeds towards Riser's Queen.

"Yubelluna!" Riser called out to his Queen as he got to his feet, trying to warn her of the younger boy's approach.

They young woman nodded and responded, conjuring a magic circle in right in-front of Romulus, which detonated and engulfed the area in front of him in smoke. Yubelluna smiled at the successful spell, which only became wider as Riser gave her a thumbs up, and waited for the announcer to name them the winners.

When no voice came around she looked at the still large cloud of dirt and smoke and gasped as a fist appeared from the gloom and knocked her away. Romulus' body followed his arm out, keeping close to the downed Queen so as to keep her allies from firing on him.

"Don't try anything or els-" Romulus was cut off as The previously unimportant Rook and Pawn pieces made themselves known. Marion and Burent each punched him hard in the stomach, causing the Titanius to gasp as the air was driven out of his lungs, before he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist. Isabela's grip was like iron as she lifted Romulus up and threw her body backwards, burying his body into the earth and a perfect demonically enhanced suplex.

Romulus coughed as the dust settled and found himself surrounded by Riser and his peerage.

"Surrender." Riser said holding his hand out and igniting a blaze that was meant to be intimidating. All around him his peerage was going the same. Yubelluna and Mihae were readying their respective magics while Isabela, Marion and Burent got into fighting stances.

"I don't think so." Romulus said, throwing out his arms and projecting a shield.

Taking that movement as a rejection of their offer the peerage began to attack the powerful defensive spell.

* * *

In the stands, Mephisto and Tannin watched, a nervous energy present around them, as their student's shield was repeatedly and devastatingly attacked by fire magic.

"He won't last forever under that kind of barrage." Tannin said, his claws puncturing the plush arms of his seat.

"He won't have to." Mephisto reassured, though his voice held a slight tilt of nervousness.

* * *

Up in the Maou box, Serafall was bitting her nails comically fast, her mouth making the noises of a shredder and her nails growing as fast at they were cut.

"Calm down Serafall." Ajuka admonished his fellow, leaning away so as to ensure that he wasn't his by any wayward nail shards.

"How can I calm down Aju-chan?" Serafall wailed. "My precious Rom-chan, My little gift to Sona, is about to lose to that little Phoenix and his band of hussies."

"I sincerly doubt that young Romulus would be caught and defeated so easily."

"It's a part of their plan?" Sirzechs asked.

"Indeed." Falbium nodded. "And I believe we're about to see the fruits of their labor."

* * *

In the arena Romulus held off the combined attacks of the Phenex clan peerage, though his defences were starting to crack.

At that moment, he felt a pulse of magic, a signal to let him know that his time as a distraction was done. Closing his eyes and concentrating He focused his magic into his shield. The previous faltering magical shield repaired itself, cracks growing smaller before disappearing. The spell expanded, forcing Riser and his peerage to retreat before Romulus dropped the shield and ran through the forest towards his home base.

The assembled Phenexs watched the younger boy run away.

"Oh my Maou." Riser muttered. "After him!"

The group ran after the boy, following his obvious trail until they reached the Amphitheatre that made up Romulus' base.

"He retreated here?" Riser wondered aloud, confused.

"He lead us right to the heart of his territory." Burent cheered.

"Let's get promoted." Marion said excitedly.

"Stick together, we don't know what kind of traps they might have set for us." Riser warned. "We haven't seen his Queen yet."

Together, they slowly made their way to the center of their enemy's territory. Excited, Marion moved just ahead of her allies.

"Look, they just abandoned their base, probably thought they couldn't hold it against us." She made her way over to cross the threshold into the theatre, breathing deeply through her nose as the powers of the Queen piece flowed through her. As Marion rejoined the rest of the group, which had come to join her and promote their other Pawn Burent broke formation and ran to quickly promote herself to queen. Not more than a moment later Mihae's head snapped up.

"LOOK OUT!" She screamed, forming a teleportation circle which moved the peerage back out of harms way.

Burent wasn't so lucky as a massive bolt of magic came down from the sky, completely disintegrating the massive amphitheatre like dust in the wind. By the time the light faded to a point where Riser's forces could stand to look at it, where once there had been the Titanius base, there was now a thirty foot crater without a single stone in sight, likewise Burent was gone as well.

"Riser Phenex's Pawn has retired." A voice rang out of nowhere. Together the entire peerage of Riser Phenex gathere back to back, in order to make sure they were without blind spots.

"What do we do?" Yubelluna asked.

"A spell like that will mean that the Queen'll be out of the fight for a while." Mihae said.

"Good, then we just have to worry about the King." Isabela said.

"We should get airborne." Marion advised. "She was up there, she had to be to fire a spell that powerful."

"Then lets get her." Riser ordered, bringing out his flaming wings alongside his peerage's bat-like wings in order to fly up and engage the depleted peerage.

* * *

Mephisto and Tannin watched the game with an air of anxiety and optimism.

"That was a damn powerful spell." Tannin praised. "Too bad they couldn't take more of them down with it."

"It wasn't meant to take any of them down." Mephisto told Tannin. "Had she been a bit faster in her casting she would have destroyed the base before any of them could promote. She was careless."

"Still, one piece is better than nothing."

"Now they have to face two queens instead of two pawns."

"They'll pull through."

"We'd better hope so, otherwise we might as well buy Romulus' wedding cloths once this is over."

* * *

Romulus flow through the air, hidden high in the clouds of their arena. On his back, Adrianna rested after her spell, drained for the time being as Romulus slowly transferred magical energy to his Queen.

"Did... did we get 'em?" She asked groggily, having regained enough strength that she wasn't in danger of retiring.

"We got the base, and one of their pieces." Romulus answered, pausing in mid-air to get his bearings.

"Re...remember the plan." She murmured. "We need to fight him in the air, and use water shields."

"I know."

"Try to take out as many of them as possible before you use it." She reminded him.

"I know."

"And remember to conserve energy and prepare a teleportation circle beforehand."

"I know."

"And remember-"

"I know Ari, I came up with the plan, remember?"

"Ok, I just don't want you to go."

"I won't."

Adrianna yawned.

"Put me down somewhere. I'll only slow you down."

"I can't, they'll find you as long as you're not retired."

"Then ju-"

BOOM

Their talking was disrupted when an explosion erupted less than ten feet from them. It seemed the Phenexs had found them. In response Romulus summoned a spherical shield to protect himself and his Queen. Holding Adrianna's arms in place around his neck with one arm and securing her leg with the other Romulus rocketed down out of cloud cover.

Almost immediately he was surrounded by Riser Phenex and his Peerage, all of whom were leveling various forms of magic at him.

"You hurt Burent." A woman in a short-skirted black and white dress yelled at him, launching a blast of fire at him. Romulus deftly dodged, allowing the fire to shoot past him further into the sky.

"We were just trying to destroy our base, it's you guys' fault that you were there." Romulus said, again dodging the furious girl's Queen-enhanced attack.

"Surrender." Riser demanded. "Your Queen can't fight, and your surrounded by five of us."

"Go get five more, then we'll be even." Romulus yelled back, hoping his voice didn't crack with nervousness.

* * *

"Ha!" Tannin barked out a laugh. "I told you that line'd come in handy."

"Dear Lord." Mephisto rubbed his head, the pain of Tannin's rather cheesy line actually hurting more than saying God's name.

* * *

"Oh!" Serafall awed with stars in her eyes as she watched. "I want him, I want him sooooooooooooo much."

"No." Ajuka told her.

"But-"

"No."

"Meanie."

* * *

The attacks only seemed to increase as the fight went on, Romulus used every ounce of power and control he possessed over his wings to dodge the various fire-based attacks that were launched at him by the members of the Phenex clan.

"Ah!" Romulus' shield shattered under the strain, allowing for a small portion of Riser's original attack to sear his right leg.

"Romulus!" Adrianna called out from her own battle.

Though the Titanius Queen hadn't fully recovered from her pervious attack, she had gained enough energy from her King to jump-start her own magic and was busy holding her own against Riser's Rook and Bishop.

Romulus meanwhile was facing the might of a King and two Queens, constantly dodging various attacks and trying to get in close to engage in hand to hand. So far he hadn't been fortunate enough to find a suitable opening in his opponents' defences.

"Just give up." Riser taunted. "You can't win. I can't be hurt, but you, you feel all of this and you keep going."

Romulus winced as another torrent of fire washed over his newly made water shield, causing steam and smoke to rise into the sky.

"Not yet." He whispered.

"AHHHH!" A scream sounded out, distracting Riser briefly as he saw his rook and Pawn fall to the ground, their bodies sparking with electricity. Floating several meters away with her arm outstretched and heavy breathing was Adrianna, clearly the result of his two pieces' abrupt exit from the game.

"Isabela! Mihae!" Riser shouted.

"Riser Phenex's Rook and Riser Phenex's Bishop have retired." The automated voice once again announced.

"You little..." Riser ground out. "You hurt my friends." A massive ball of fire appeared in his hands. "No one hurts my friends and gets away with it."

The fire-ball tore through the air, engulfing Adrianna.

"Ari!" Romulus shouted.

"AHHH!" Adrianna's scream pierced through the fire, which dissipated to reveal Romulus' Queen, scorched and covered with burns but looking very angry. In her arms was a book that Romulus could have sworn hadn't been there before, which flickered and phased in and out of existence.

"Innovate Clear!" She yelled, throwing the book, which opened itself and flipped through the pages before stopping somewhere around halfway through.

"You..." She sputtered. "You won't have... Romulus."

The pages of the book that hovered began to glow white and let out a massive burst of power. Feeling the danger mere moments beforehand everyone present at the battle, friend and foe alike, split into different directions as blast after blast of magical energy pierced through the air.

* * *

"Balance Breaker." Tannin said, a hint of incredulity in his voice. "That's the youngest I've ever seen it, even that Vali kid hasn't broken through that barrier yet."

"Indeed." Mephisto replied without taking his eyes off of the shocking display of magic that Ms Lorelei was showcasing. "She's performed a partial unlock, most likely in response to the stress and pain of Riser's last attack. It's nowhere near as powerful as a real balance breaker should be."

"Well, it looks like we'll have to up their training after this." Tannin nodded, smirking as one of Adrianna's blasts grazed the wing of Riser's Pawn.

"We will, Ms. Lorelei will need much guidance to properly use this new power, and I'm sure we'll need to up security to stop and would-be spies fishing for information."

"I'm just wondering if this is what they'll need to turn the tables."

"No matter what, Romulus will be fighting Riser on his own."

"You don't think the girl can hold on?"

"She's been drained by her first attack, and now she's performed a partial unlock of Balance Breaker on her Sacred Gear, she'll be down in a few minutes, the only question becomes how much damage she does before she's forced to retire."

"You think she can take the Pawn and the Queen down?"

"The Pawn? Most definitely. The Queen on the other hand is another story. I don't think I've seen that kind of talent with explosion magic in a human in the last century. She'll be a challenge."

"Well the kid always did love a challenge."

* * *

The Maous watched as Adrianna Lorelei unleashed her Sacred Gear's power, firing continuously on her enemies even as they tried and failed to counter-attack.

"That's the Innovate Clear." Sirzechs stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Haven't seen that one in a few centuries." Serafall said excitedly. "Not since Morgan-chan and I tore it up during the trials."

"You two ended up throwing massive orgies in the forests outside Salem and started one of the largest and most ineffective witch hunts in history." Ajuka admonished her.

"Still, that girl and I had some wild times."

"It's a wonder you never reincarnated her." Fabium teased his fellow Maou.

"Oh believe me Fal-chan, I tried. She had this stupid thing about remaining human and getting into heaven... she did but really she must hate it up there with all those stuffy prudes. I'm sure she would have preferred it down here with me and So-tan."

"Well it looks like it's newest wielder has found a home."

"I wonder if Romulus would be willing to trade her to Rias?"

"I doubt it Sirzechs."

"Don't be such a downer Aj-chan. Of course you should try Zechy-chan, right after I convince Rom-chan to marry my So-tan."

"Hey, He's marrying Rias."

"So-tan."

"Rias."

"So-tan."

"Rias."

"Do you two even understand the word dibs?" Ajuka asked the two, a twitch forming in his brow.

"Sorry Aju-chan." "Apologies Ajuka."

"Good, now lets get back to watching."

The assembled heads of the Devil government, having just finished a conversation so childish that it would have made children sweat-drop in incredulity, turned their head in order to watch actual children fight for their status and for their audience's entertainment.

* * *

Adrianna's blasts were finally starting to slow down but were not weakening. Instead, as they slowed, they only grew more powerful. Riser ordered his Queen and Pawn in separate directions to minimise the chance of single blasts boing more damage.

"Ah!" Riser yelled as he was blasted by a powerful blast of magic. Flames erupted over his wounds, healing his injuries in an instant and even repairing his cloths as he again took flight with his fiery wings.

Away from Adrianna's valiant last stand. Romulus soared through the air and clashed against Riser's Pawn Marion.

"You can't win." Marion called out, coming back around to strike again as the younger boy. "Even if you beat all of us, Riser can't be hurt. He's immortal."

"Immortal isn't invulnerable." Romulus said, encasing his fist in a shield spell to act as a bashing weapon. The boy dodged a blast of fire, which was lost in the clouds growing ever more numerous in the sky. Coming in close Romulus reeled back his arm, taking a moment to prepare as Marion prepared for an attack of her own. The two clashed, slamming hard in to each other. With her greater height and longer reach Marion's punch struck first with enough force to instantly incapacitate the Titanius heir. Her aim was true, and the first flew straight towards Romulus' face.

It never hit.

Instead the blow contacted and shattered a shield spell the young heir had created just in front of his face. With an opening made from her failed attack, Romulus' punch landed, striking her in the gut. Marion gasped as the attack winded her and her eyes lost their sheen as unconsciousness claimed her from a combination of exhaustion and pain. Romulus caught her as her body fell forward dissolving into light and retiring from the game.

"Riser Phenex's Pawn has retired." The voice announced.

Romulus looked back over to his Queen's battle, and found that Adrianna was looking far worse than he had left her. She was hovering up and down, slowly losing strength and dropping before forcing herself to continue and rising back up to her height. Her book -whatever it was- continued to fire and Romulus could see more than a few marks on Riser's Queen and Riser himself.

"Ari." He yelled, flying quickly towards her.

"Romulus?" Her voice was laden with exhaustion and her vision swam, making it look like anywhere between one and three of her friend were flying towards her at any given time.

Seeing the girl's distraction, Riser and Yubelluna took their chance. Conjuring fire and explosion spells in their hands they threw them at the girl before diving again to dodge another blast of her book.

"ARI! Look out!" Romulus screamed at his friend, who hadn't noticed the powerful spells that were rocketing towards her.

Arianna didn't have time to react. The spells slammed into her with force, draining the last of her magic and causing her Balance Breaker to disappear. Romulus reached her as she began to disappear. He held his Queen as she dissolved, making sure that she didn't fall while she was being taken from the arena. Finally she was gone, not a piece of her remained in the arena and Romulus knew that she'd been taken to healing quarters to recover from her injuries.

"Romulus Titanius' Queen has retired." The automated voice said, announcing the disappearance of Romulus's first and only piece in the game. The young devil didn't have much time to contemplate on his Queen's defeat however, as he turned to spot Riser and Yubelluna taking up positions to confront him.

"Give up." Riser again demanded, readying himself in the likely event he was rejected. Likewise Yubelluna prepared herself, spinning a magic circle between her fingers.

"No." Romulus growled out, sizing up his competition now that he was on his own.

Neither Riser or Yubelluna were in top form. Riser's exposed form was covered in burns and cuts from Adrianna's attacks that seemed to be taking a while to heal. Yubelluna was also covered in burns, but as she didn't have the natural healing of the Phenex clan she wasn't recovering as quickly as Riser was.

"You're both tired and drained. You two should give up."

Riser narrowed his eyes, glaring at the younger boy.

"Never. Surrender would do nothing but bring shame upon my family, even defeat meant that I would have struggled and fought. I won't let myself or my friends be dishonoured like that. I'll fight until one of us is down."

Romulus and Riser stared at each other across the open divide. Storm clouds gathering and darkening the sky around them. Thunder roared and lightning flashed all around them from their places in the air and soon the only thing illuminating them was the radiant glow of their wings. Romulus looked over at the Phenex, who was bathed in the warm glow of the reds, oranges and yellows of his fiery wings. If nothing else he could respect Riser's convictions. Romulus didn't think that Riser would ever give in, his pride and his nobility as a high-class devil meant he would never allow himself to be dominated by anyone not sufficiently powerful.

On the other side Riser was taking his time. On the other side of the rapidly darkening sky floated his opponent. Time was his ally in this, every second was one more that he and Yubelluna could recuperate, one more second he had to heal, one more second closer to full power. Romulus was right about one thing, they both were drained. The Queen's attacks had done far more damage than he wanted to admit and with Marion's retirement he was down to just himself and his Queen. He needed to draw this out.

"If that's how you want it, then send her out." Romulus shouted over the cracking thunder. "Let's make it just you and me."

Riser smirked. "You scared?"

"No, I just want a fair fight."

* * *

Outside the match, seated comfortably, Tannin and Mephisto watched with baited breath as the arena grew ever darker.

"You think he'll do it?" Tannin asked.

"If young lord Riser's sense outweighs his pride, then he won't, but children are oft subject to their baser desires."

"So he'll do it?"

"I have no idea."

This is getting real tense." Tannin tried to divert the subject away from Riser, instead focusing on the assembled spectators.

"This has been a rather good match." Mephisto nodded. "I thought that Adrianna would destroy everyone not of Phenex blood, but it appears that young Riser's peerage has a good synergy and power."

"Still, now that it's just the three of them, do you think He'll be able to pull it off?"

"As long as they stay together, and Romulus doesn't get distracted, he should be able to take them both. I just hope he keeps his focus."

"The kid's got a good head on his shoulders, he'll pull through, he always does."

"True."

* * *

Up in the box of the Maous, the four leaders of the underworld watched what seemed to be the final confrontation of the Phoenix and the Titan.

"This is getting good." Falbium said, flicking a kernel of popcorn into the air and catching it in his mouth.

"Awwww." Serafall moaned distressed. "Why, this is so nerve-wracking, Rom-chan is handing on by a thread and that Phenex kid is just stalling. If this keeps up we'll be getting invitations to Rom-chan wedding with that little Phoenix brat Ravel."

"Calm down Serafall." Ajuka soothed the Maou of Foreign Relations. "Everything we've seen so far has been nothing but a prelude. The real fight starts now, and I do believe young Romulus has victory in hand."

"You sound so certain." Sirzechs said, glancing at his friend.

"Pay attention to everything that has happened Sirzechs. I'm sure he's had to improvise, but I can see that Romulus has gathered all the cards he needs to win this duel."

* * *

In the arena, Romulus moved slightly to the left, deftly dodging a streak of lightning that struck the Earth.

"I'll give you one more chance to surrender." He yelled over at the two others.

"I should be saying that to you." Riser replied, smirking as he felt the last of his wounds heal under his cloths. Yubelluna still looked a bit beat up, but he'd been subtly sharing his energy with her so she should be fine to finish the fight.

"I guess I have no choice then. I didn't want to use this." Romulus said.

Riser and Yubelluna frowned. If he had something that could beat them, then why hadn't he pulled it out before?

"You can't see it, can you?" Romulus smirked for the first time. "You two, your entire peerage, you've just been helping us the entire time."

Romulus raised up one of his hands, and between his fingers, small sparks of electricity formed and arched. Around Romulus, a large shield spell formed, not the deep blue of each of his previous spells, but instead electric blue.

"Electric Grid: Arch!" Romulus yelled, the shield changing form and creating two solid lines of lightning connecting Romulus to the storm clouds above.

A roar echoed across the arena, not the harsh sound of explosion or fire magics, and not the sudden crash of natural lightning and thunder. The roar was of a beast, long slumbering and awakened. Riser and Yubelluna looked up at the clouds, seeing that the lightning that had once been striking relentlessly at the ground was instead collecting. Streams of lightning were pulled together at the point where Romulus' shield spell had pierced the clouds.

"Come out... My Chimera!" Romulus announced.

From the clouds, composed completely of powerful lightning, a massive beast emerged. It had the head of a lion and the back of a goat, with a snake tail curling and hissing at the two Phenex clan members.

"Now fall, in a flash of lightning." Romulus dropped his hand, pointing right at Riser.

The Chimera roared once again, and disappeared into the clouds. The remaining lightning concentrated and gathered again before in a flash it struck. Both Riser and Yubelluna were caught unprepared. The attack struck in a mere fraction of a fraction of a second, and truly terrifying speed considering the Chimera was close to the size of a full grown dragon. It slammed into Riser with enough power that he was instantly knocked unconscious, ending the match. It also saved him from the majority of the pain as the electricity arched across his entire body. Even knocked out cold he screamed out before he disappeared in a shattering light show.

"Riser Phenex has retired. The winner it Romulus Titanius."

Romulus' shoulders slumped in relief. Looking over he could see Yubelluna looking dumbly at him before the two of them were extracted from the arena and sent to their separate areas. Romulus' vision was dominated by light as he was teleported.

When the brightness finally faded the boy found himself standing in front of Mephisto and Tannin, who both wore smirks.

"Good job kid." Tannin praised.

"I'm gonna sleep now." Was all the response Romulus could manage before his eyes lost their focus and he collapsed.

Tannin was already there to catch the boy before his body could hit the floor.

"Huh, the kid really did bet everything on that one."

"Indeed, though it worked so I suppose we can't berate him for taking the risk."

"Ha, I'm upping his training with the girl to control her Gear, I think that's a good punishment."

Mephisto smiled as Tannin picked up Romulus' unconscious form and swung it over his shoulder and the two made their way over to the infirmary to reunite the King and his Queen in the healing chambers.

* * *

Well there we go, The end of the betrothal of Romulus and Ravel. I know Riser seemed a little out of character here but remember, this is Riser at around 13 or 14, before puberty and before he most likely gets all horny. I also think that as a child and early teen he'd probably be more innocent and less dickish. Not less prideful but more, I don't know, noble. I understand if you don't like the way I'm characterising him but try to remember that he is teen Riser and will eventually grow into someone more similar to the person we see in the novels and show. Though this will leave an impact and we may see some more of him.

It was Kirin. That was the attack. To anyone not familiar with Naruto or this technique. The idea is to use fire techniques to raise the ambient air temperature and create an ascending air current. This causes the formation of Cumulonimbus clouds which are common thunderclouds seen in storms. From there he used a lightning shield stretched into the clouds to connect to and shape the lightning into an attack that could strike with.

Not only is this attack incredibly powerful and fast given that it uses lightning from storm clouds but it also contains a trace of light element in it, which devils are weak to. I came up with this from watching the training of Akeno with her father where he said that by combining her holy power as a fallen angel she could transform her thunder magic into lightning magic. Kind of similar attack instead it's natural lightning.

Now to those who said that because it's a rating game arena is doesn't have the necessary water in the air to form a cloud, that's why Romulus used water shields, to form steam and therefore condensation to create the clouds. It's a slight pull on the old suspension of disbelief but really nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to fiction and if you can believe most of what happens in the actual DXD show, then you can believe this.


End file.
